


Heartstrings

by Weevilo707



Series: Heartstrings [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angus is lup and barry's kid, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Team as Family, Uncle Taako, blupjeans baby Angus, but then angst happened, eventual taakitz, still plenty of fluff tho, this was supposed to be mostly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2018-12-11 23:02:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 125,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11724408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weevilo707/pseuds/Weevilo707
Summary: Taako wasnotone for kids, holy shit no. Lup and Barry were different from him though. They were responsible and in love and if anyone deserved to have a happily ever after with a family it was fucking them. So of course he supported their decision. They were his family, and now this kid was too.---There's a little half-elf kid on the train, in a fancy suit with a fancy hat and a fancy voice. Taako doesn't pay him much mind at first, he's not one for kids after all.Fuckthough, if something about him doesn't pull at heartstrings that Taako hadn't even realize were still there.





	1. What's Deserved

It used to be the most common way to find the three of them, once Lup and Barry made everything official. The group splayed out on top of each other in a pile of tangled limbs and casual contact. Or at the very least Taako and Lup sprawled like cats on top of a resigned Barry. The poor nerd had been flustered about it at first, but Lup wasn’t exactly one to shy away from physical affection. 

No one questioned Taako being there as well. Like hell was he losing out on twin time just because Lup realized her and Barold were soulmates or whatever. It was bad enough that in the later cycles they kept going all ghosty and Taako couldn’t drape himself over either of them. 

That wasn’t happening this cycle though. Or not cycle. This, fuck, he didn’t even know what to call it anymore. Not home. They weren’t leaving, and Lup and Barry had both managed to stay in their bodies, but there’d still been a distance growing. 

They weren’t able to cut themselves off like Taako could, couldn’t shut themselves down from it all. Made sense, with how they went and spent half their time as beings sustained by pure emotions. It made it all the more obvious how the world tearing itself apart below them tormented the two though. Wouldn’t let them lay back and relax for a lazy afternoon. 

That’s exactly what they were doing now though, because they could only wear themselves so thin. Eventually old Taako had to be the one to grab the undead sweethearts and lay on top of them until they chilled the fuck out. 

They were in Lup and Barry’s room on the starblaster, Lup using Barry as a headrest while they read some nerd book. Barry was braiding her hair absently, the motion second nature after cycles of practice. Taako had slumped himself on top of his twin, the nail polish he was using balanced precariously on his thigh and his legs up in Barry’s lap. No one was talking, and it was relaxing enough that they could almost pretend they weren’t responsible for the worst war this world had ever known.

“Hey Taako?” Lup spoke up after fuck knows how long, Taako was not paying attention to the time. 

“Hmm?” he hummed absently, finishing one hand and blowing on his nails before starting the other. 

“Barry and I wanna have a kid,” she said it so casually, like she was remarking on needing to do the fucking dry cleaning. Taako choked on his tongue, the nail polish bottle knocked from its perch and staining the pajama shorts he was wearing and the blanket. 

_“Okay?”_ he said once he gained a hold of himself, not too proud of the way his voice cracked. “Like, now? Is this your way of asking me to leave the room because if so I’m gone, out, no longer on this plane even if you need,” he added, casting a quick prestidigitation to clean up the nail polish. 

“No, no Taako that’s not- _No,”_ Barry insisted, and at least he had the decency to be an even brighter red than Taako was. Lup didn’t look the slightest bit shamed, only equal parts amused and annoyed by the reaction. 

“Calm down you dork, if that was the case I would’ve thrown you out by now,” she said, and honestly Taako did not doubt her on that. 

“Can we get to the part of this conversation that doesn’t make me think of my dear, _dear_ sister doing it with a nerd who wears jean socks to bed?” he asked, because he was not enjoying this topic at all. 

“Taako, you made me those socks,” Barry said, like that was the point at all. 

“And you’re the one who wears them Barold, no one said you had to do that,” Taako insisted. Barry seemed to think that over a bit before shrugging in defeat. 

“Fair enough.” 

“We’re getting wildly away from the point here,” Lup complained. "And either way we're pretty sure it wouldn't be as straight up as all that, there'd def have to be some magic to help sustain shit," she added. Taako was starting to get worried about how much of this they had apparently planned out. 

“Alright cool, what the fuck _is_ the point then?” Taako asked, really having no idea what this conversation even was. He didn’t know how the two people he was closest to in the whole of everything could keep on managing to throw him like this.

“What do you think?” Lup asked in that specifically forced casual way that meant she really cared about what his answer would be. 

“About what? You two making some mini nerd gremlin?” he asked back, kind of incredulous. 

“Yeah bro,” Lup said, both her and Barry staring at him, waiting for his answer. 

“Why are you asking _me?”_ he sputtered, because this was soooo out of his wheelhouse. He could barely take care of himself, he wasn’t even gonna consider having some small person that depended solely on him. As far as he was concerned even dating someone at this point was pretty out of the question, considering the fact that he couldn’t make himself give a shit about a single living person who wasn’t on this ship. No thank you to any of that too, ugh, definitely not the best choices there.

That was him though. Barry and Lup were so fucking different from him. They had the whole sickeningly sweet soulmates thing going on, sustaining their very existence and sanity at times through their love for each other and all that jazz. 

They could take care of each other, and themselves, and probably some kid too. 

“Like hell am I making this kind of decision without your input Taako,” Lup said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He could understand that, maybe it wasn’t healthy or whatever but it was how they rolled. That hadn’t changed in the past hundred years, and it wasn’t going to change now. As far as Taako was concerned the only thing that was different from when they were kids was that now he had his nerd ass brother Barry to lean on too. 

He stared at the two for a long moment, partly to think over his answer because this was _important_ to them, and partly to build the suspense a little. Finally, he laid back down casual as anything and started using what was left of the nail polish to finish his hand. 

“Hell yeah my dudes, you should go for it,” he said. Neither of them seemed particularly surprised by his answer, but it was obvious this conversation wasn’t over either. 

“Taako, you don’t think... Don’t you think it’s a little selfish of us?” Barry asked, guilt already tinting his voice. Huffing a sigh, Taako didn’t bother looking at either of them as he spoke. 

“Nope, you’re gonna have to elaborate on that one Barold,” he said. 

“That world down there is _hell_ Taako, and it’s our fault. We were doing what we had to, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re the ones responsible. How can we _justify_ just, just going and living like we’re innocent in all of this? Do we even _deserve_ to be able to have a family like that after what we’ve done?” Lup asked, and it was clear that this was something going on in her head for a while. Taako wasn’t fazed by the speech in the slightest, none of these feelings were new from Lup. 

Slowly Taako finished off his last finger, waving his hand a bit afterwards before pushing himself up more so he could look at the two better. Taking a deep, even breath, he spoke as calmly as he could manage. 

“Lup, Barry, _listen._ I’m definitely not the best person to make this kinda decision, but you want my opinion, right?” he asked. 

“Course we do bro,” Lup said, Barry nodding in agreement. 

“Cool, cool. Then in my opinion, _fuuuuck_ that bullshit,” he said. They couldn’t cut themselves off enough, and maybe Taako cut too much, but that was why they had each other. “Like hell do you two not deserve to have a family! What’s happening sucks, yeah, but you said yourself we did what we had to.” 

“That doesn’t just excuse all the suffering we’ve caused,” Lup tried to protest but Taako was shaking his head before she even finished. 

“What about the suffering _we’ve_ had to go through? It’s not like we’ve been on some relaxing vacation these last hundred years. You two had to go and tear out your own souls for fuck sake, which I mean, rad, but like _hell_ have we not earned what we got,” he insisted. The other two stared at him and he sighed after a moment, cause he wasn’t _good_ at this shit. 

“Listen, you two can do what you want, cause if it was my choice it’d be hell to the no on the kid department. Don’t you dare let me catch you making these decisions because you think you don’t deserve shit though. If anyone deserves to be happy it’s you two numskulls,” Taako said. 

Lup and Barry were smiling at him and ugh, Taako hated this whole emotions bullshit. 

“Aw, thanks you sappy dork,” Lup said, pulling Taako into something between a headlock and a hug. 

“If you don’t stop I’m gonna put my tacky nails in your hair,” Taako threatened. She didn’t stop and he didn’t ruin his nails in her hair. He liked this color and he had a lot less of it now. 

After a long while Taako asked, “so, a kid huh?” 

“Hell yeah,” Lup answered, starting to sound a bit genuine in her excitement. 

“And you all don’t feel like you’re rushing into anything?” he asked, because when they weren’t debating whether or not they were worthy or other bullshit this idea was almost as terrifying to Taako as the whole lich thing had been. Not quite as bad, but it was pretty high up there. 

“I mean, we’ve been dating for 50 years now Taako. If time was normal for us I’d either be dead or have like grandkids or something at this point,” Barry said, which okay, fair point. God, humans lived so _fast._ It really was a good thing they did the whole lich deal. 

“Hah, you’re dating an old man,” Taako teased. Lup just grinned and slung an arm around Barry to pull him closer. 

“Sure fucking am,” she said. The seriousness from before was quickly leaving and for the first time in a long time the three were actually able to joke around. A kid wasn’t something Taako would ever want, but fuck it was good to see his family excited about something again. 

Maybe he was the slightest bit excited too. 

It’d been a _long_ time since there was someone new for him to give a shit about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently i'm writing TAZ fics now?? This idea would not leave my head and i figured i should just chase the desire to write wherever it takes me, because it's in such short supplies these days. I don't usually write fics based around theories that are blatantly wrong in canon, but like i said the idea of angus being lup and barry's kid would not leave me alone and this gives me an excuse to let out all of my taako family feelings in one place 
> 
> as always thanks for reading and i hope you've enjoyed so far


	2. Caring and Promises

Taako could remember every thought and feeling he had the moment Lup and Barry had become liches with striking clarity. Sure, most of those thoughts were just ‘oh fuck oh fuck fucking _fuck’_ and the feelings were ‘dread and nauseous.' It was the single most terrifying thing he’d ever been through, despite the decades of death and running from the actual fucking apocalypse. 

If they had fucked up, if they couldn’t control it, there was no going back. They’d just be _gone._ Worse than gone. They’d still be there but it wouldn’t be _themselves_ and he promised not to leave them like that. 

All he could do was watch at the base of a hill as his sister and his best friend risked their very souls in an attempt to keep everyone a little bit safer. That tiniest bit of an advantage against the fucking hunger. He couldn’t even join them, because he knew that he wasn’t strong enough. He knew he couldn’t keep himself if he tried, he was too numb. 

All he could do was hope, which wasn’t something he was all that good at. 

Taako doubted anything could ever make him feel that same level of terror and helplessness again. 

So he really didn’t appreciate the fact that he wasn’t exaggerating when he said the mere _idea_ of a small child was coming in at a close second for those emotions. 

Okay, it wasn’t just a kid. It was _Lup’s_ kid. Lup and Barry’s, and that was a big fucking deal. That made it practically his kid, because he and Lup shared everything else anyway. He’d have to be there for them and shit. He almost kinda wanted to be there for them? Ugh, they didn’t even exist yet and they were already fucking him up. 

The problem was he cared about this. If nothing else there was a lot of time and energy going into it and he didn’t want it to fuck up. 

Lup and Barry had said they hadn’t decided what they were going to do immediately after the conversation they had with Taako. It hadn’t been until about a month later that they officially made their choice. There had never been any doubt in Taako’s mind that they would do it though. It’d been a long time since he’d seen the two of them want something like that.

Once it was finally decided though they told Taako first, which yeah no surprise there. He didn’t expect them to make him promise to keep it a secret until they were sure they’d even be _able_ to have a kid. They should be, with a little bit of magical assistance on Lup’s end. There was a little worry with their souls, but being liches shouldn’t have done anything to their physical bodies. Still, they wanted to be careful, and Taako could respect that. 

Holy shit was everyone’s reactions worth the wait when they finally did decide to break the news. Taako was worried for a while there that Magnus was gonna find a whole new, completely magic free way to tear his soul from his body the fucker was so excited. Davenport had to go grab a chair for Lucretia because she looked a hair away from fainting, and Merle just started listing off name suggestions immediately. Some of these included Pan, Merle Jr (yes even if it’s a girl Barry, Merle is a great name anyone could enjoy), Jerry Jorts (Jorts can be the middle name), and Devil Spawn By Technicality. 

It was, fuck, it was nice seeing everyone excited for something again. Taako couldn’t remember the last time they’d all gotten really jived about something. Well, actually he guessed he could. 

They’d been excited while they created the relics, or at least most of them were. That had been their _chance,_ to finally make a move and stop their hundred years of running. That excitement left in a hurry when they let the relics out in the world though and the powers started taking effect. They knew it would be bad, but he guessed they either didn’t realize just how bad. That or they weren’t as prepared as they thought they were. 

This was something to be excited about though, and one that most likely wouldn’t result in world altering consequences. Something to think about besides all that fucking _death_ going on down below. When shit got tough Taako could distract Lup and Barry by making suggestions on what the room should look like, or joke about how Merle’s name choices sucked but listen, Taako Two has a ring to it, you gotta admit it’s got a ring to it. 

It really was something happy for once, and yet as it got closer and closer Taako couldn’t help but feel more and more terrified. 

He loved Lup and Barry and fucking everyone on this ship, but they were _fucked up_ people, himself definitely included. What if they screwed this up? Like they screwed up with the relics? This meant so fucking much, and Taako wasn’t used to things mattering anymore. People die, either ones he cared about or ones he didn’t, and the ones he cared about would get reset in a year and things would be okay again. 

There was no reset button anymore though. If shit- if things went wrong, they couldn’t fix that. 

“Hey Taako, can we talk?” Lup asked as she came into his room, knocking him out of his thoughts. He was extremely thankful for that, because those weren’t a train he wanted to continue chugging down. Taako instantly nodded and pushing himself up from where he’d been lounging on his bed beforehand. 

“Of course, what’s eatin ya?” he asked as she sat down on the bed and slumped against him. She seemed all wrapped up in her thoughts enough that she didn’t realize the ones that had been going through his head, which was good. It was so fucking rare that he could get something past Lup. Of course, she had a lot to distract her now. She sighed after a moment, and it was clear that she was getting close. Maybe another month or so? Taako wasn’t sure, he’d never payed attention to how long these things normally take. Didn’t think he’d ever need to know. 

“Nothing important broseph. I mean it’s real stupid, because like, we’re all _insanely powerful,_ ya know? Especially me and Barry, like damn are we fucking awesome. And even if we do die we’ll still be good to fuckin go, not even an issue,” Lup started, chewing on her thumb as she spoke.

“Hell yeah, I mean you won’t be able to un-go ghost if you do it here, so let’s maybe try and hold off on that one, but it’s not like, the _worst_ thing if it happened,” Taako said. He wasn’t sure where she was going with this, except for the fact that she was bringing up going lich at all was making him nervous. 

“Exactly! So this isn’t even a thing, let’s forget about it,” she said quickly, starting to get up to leave. Before she could Taako grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back down next to him because fuck that noise. It was Talky Twin Time now. 

“Nope, no way Lulu you started this conversation and you’re seeing it through to the end. Perseverance and all that jazz,” he insisted. Lup huffed but didn’t try to get away again, instead leaning against him even harder, like slumping against him with more force was an act of defiance. 

She didn’t say anything right away though, and he didn’t press her for it. They were both like this, sometimes you just needed some time to figure out how to word shit. 

“Can you watch them?” she asked after a long moment. Taako blinked, not really understanding the question. 

“Watch who?” 

“The kid. If- if _somehow_ something happens to me and Barry, can you watch them? I don’t,” she hesitated, sighing heavily before continuing. “I don’t want them to have to go through what we did, ya know? Being all alone and shit. I want them to have a _home.”_

Taako was nodding before she even finished speaking, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Of course, I mean fuck I didn’t even think that was something you had to ask. Was pretty sure it was assumed that Uncle Taako was gonna be number one emergency contact for the brat,” he said. He spoke casually, but there really wasn’t anything casual about it. 

There was no way he was ever gonna let this kid be alone. 

“Thanks bro,” Lup said, and Taako could fucking feel the weight that lifted off of her. He shifted the two of them so that he could massage her shoulders some. It was a thing he’d do pretty frequently for her now, because she’d started complaining about back pains and shit since this whole thing started he swore. Usually it was after a magic session helping her body keep up with the strain of the whole baby making thing, since those always left her sore. Sometimes you just need a good back rub though.

“No problem, just continuing to be the best fucking twin ever, as usual,” he said, and even if he couldn’t see it he knew Lup was rolling her eyes. “Ain’t even gonna be a thing though, cause none of you are going anywhere. That kid’s gonna be lucky as _fuck._ I mean, they’ve got me for an uncle, how can you get any better than that?” he joked, before shrugging and adding on quickly, “and I guess they’ve also got you and Barold and the rest of the nerds, that’s cool too.” 

Lup was laughing and Taako was relieved to see her mood lifted. He was telling the truth though, and it was only now starting to hit him. 

Yeah, they were all really fucked up. 100 years of what they been through had definitely changed them, and Taako wouldn’t say a lot of them were that well off to begin with. Like fuck, Lup and Barry were liches now, but they were also the most fucking thoughtful and considerate people he knew. They were the most drastic change too, there were plenty of smaller ones that added up.

But the thing was they _all_ cared about this kid already. Davenport had helped them clear out a space on the ship for a baby room, and Magnus had already carved like, all the baby furniture one could ever need and some they definitely didn't. Lucretia had started another journal dedicated solely towards the ordeal, a baby journal she said. She wrote in the thing with a fucking grim determination, like the world would end if she missed a single moment of the journey. Merle would offer parenting advice to Barry whenever he seemed particularly nervous, which was fucking always and most of it was bullshit but Taako had managed to overhear a few actual useful things in there. 

And Lup and Barry. _Fuck,_ Lup and Barry. The more he thought about it, the more he knew they would be fucking awesome parents. They were so goddamn caring, and they _loved_ so much. Taako wasn’t just reassuring Lup when he said that there was no way this kid would be without them, because like fuck would either of them leave like that. They cared too much to let something like that happen. 

And Taako. He cared. It was scary how much he cared, after spending so long not caring and not even having met the kid yet. There was no way he couldn’t though, because they were family already. Taako could cut out the whole fucking world, planes upon planes of existences and every interchangeable face that was inside of them, but he couldn’t cut out his family, his _heart._

This kid was going to be so fucking lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this and then we can actually get to the main part of the fic. Admittedly these are a bit shorter than I usually have my chapters for my long fics, but i wanna be able to update this on a whim so it'd be easier to keep it short that way. Also whoa, i updated this really fast. I found a cool word tracking site i like that lets me record how much i've written in a day and has graphs and stuff, and those help me stay productive I think. 
> 
> also aaaa, so many nice responses to the first chapter! thanks a bunch for that, i'm glad people are interested int his idea and want to have more. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed so far


	3. Loses

Taako took it all back. Any of that dumb mushy shit he’d been saying before about caring about the kid and being excited and all that nonsense. It was all lies and horseshit, he didn’t care for any of this.

 _Fuck,_ babies take a lot of work. 

He wasn’t even the one taking care of the kid. Angus. Taako still wasn’t over that fucking name. 

(“Let me get this straight Lulu. Your child, the actual living person you’re making, who shares half of his being with you, is going to be called _Angus Bluejeans.”_

“Yes Taako, because it’s sure as hell isn’t going to be Angus Taaco.”) 

Maybe he was exaggerating some, because Lup and Barry weren’t complaining and they were the ones actually doing all the work. Well Lup was complaining some, but he knew she wasn’t actually being serious about it. Angus was a good kid, but he was still like, a fucking baby. And holy damn did those things cry a lot. 

Taako had no idea how to deal with kids, so Angus ended up crying when it was uncle Taako time more often than not. At which point he got dumped back to one of his parents or Magnus or sometimes Davenport if he happened to be walking by. That was mainly because he knew even less about what to do with kids than Taako did and seeing the old gnome completely fucking baffled by a crying child was hilarious. 

Still, Taako knew for sure that kids were definitely not for him, as much as that didn’t stop him from trying to help Barry and Lup. Even when the little brat was happy he didn’t know what to do. You can’t _talk_ to them, at least not in a way they’ll understand. The only thing that seemed to make him really happy to be around Taako was stealing his hat and drooling all over the thing. Which yeah, Taako was not a huge fan of.

Despite that Taako guessed he was still a little fond of the kid, if only because he made Lup and Barry so fucking happy. It’d been a long time since he’d seen Lup so consistently smiling. 

Which only made the moments where she wasn’t stand out all the more. 

Now was one of those times. 

Barry and Angus were sleeping, because they both needed to like dorks. Taako had found Lup alone in the kitchen, a serious and somber expression on her face. 

“What’s up?” he asked as he walked in, trying to keep a light mood. Maybe she was just tired, although he could tell already it was something more than that. 

“Cordelia was destroyed by the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet last night, couple thousand dead,” she said simply, no emotions in her voice. It was clear as day on her face how heartbroken she was though, and fuck. Taako knew there was no _real_ distraction from the devastation, that it kept wearing them down on the inside. There was nothing he could do about that and it fucking sucked. 

“You know you didn’t _mean_ to make something like that. I understood the rationale you came up with. I mean, it was just _damage,_ it was just… damage. The other ones that we made, they can be twisted and perverted in so many different ways, and I think- at least the way you explained it to me, that by making something that was just damage, you would limit it. You didn't mean for any of this to happen,” Taako tried to reassure her, although he didn’t know how well it was working. 

The hunger was worse than this. They both agreed on that. This was the only real option they had, there was _nothing_ they could do. 

When Lup thanked him and went to bed that night, he didn’t think anything of it. They’d had very similar conversations in the past. The genuine emotions thing was kinda few and far between with them, because they didn’t really need it. It wasn’t unheard of in the slightest though, there wasn’t anything _special_ about that one. 

Then the next morning, a still half asleep Barry was knocking on his door with Angus in his arms, asking if he’d seen Lup last night. There still weren’t any alarm bells, because this was Lup. She could take care of herself, and she’d never leave them. When they found the note on the kitchen counter saying ‘back soon’ Taako had breathed a sigh of relief. 

She’d be back soon, probably no longer than a day or two at most. 

A day or two turned into a week, turned into two weeks turned into a month turned into more. Every passing moment that Lup didn’t walk through the doors of the starblaster sent Taako’s heart plummeting further and further down into his stomach. 

Something was wrong. Something was so horribly, _horribly wrong._

She wouldn’t leave, not like this, not now. Not after how excited she was about Angus, not with how much she fucking loved them. Something had happened, something that Taako couldn’t let himself think about. 

Somehow the amount of work put into taking care of a kid didn’t bother Taako all that much anymore. Of course everyone was helping, and they’d all silently increased their loads when Lup- while Lup was gone, but Taako and Barry took the largest portions of it by far. They’d trade him off while the other looked for Lup, wanting to make sure at least of them was with him at most times. 

He didn’t cry as much around Taako anymore, and he appreciated that. 

It’d been several months since Lup had left, and Taako was currently on Angus duty. Kid was getting big, he swore he was gonna be able to start talking soon. Fuck, he hoped they found her before that. He knew she’d fucking hate to miss something like his first words, the sap. 

Angus was playing with his hat again, finally seeming to get the idea that it was supposed to go on his head, except it was way too fucking big so the kid just kinda disappeared underneath it. Taako let him stay in the little makeshift hideout for a bit, and when he lifted it up Angus looked on the verge of sleep. 

“C’mon Ango, nap time,” he said, putting his hat back on before picking his nephew up. Angus reached out and grabbed onto some of the loose hair from Taako’s braid, but he wasn’t strong enough for the pulling to hurt any, at least not with hair. Taako had learned very fast that dangling earrings had to be put on hold for a little while because fuck that noise. 

Putting him down in his crib, Taako pulled the blanket up over him and brushed some of his hair out of his face and behind small pointed ears. Looks wise, he definitely took after his human dad more, with his dark hair and mostly human features, which was a fucking shame (“See Lup? This is what you get for being with a total dork”) but you could still see the elf if you looked. His skin was darker, closer to Lup’s and his tone, and there was that hint of ethereal elegance in his eyes and ears that was clearly elf. 

Turning the light off as he left, Taako went to go see where Barry was. It wasn’t hard to find him, out on the deck of the starblaster hunched over a table and maps. He looked as close to sleep as Angus had been, and as much as Taako didn’t want to wake him, he could at least suggest he go to an actual bed instead. 

“How’s it going?” he asked, Barry jumping at the sound of his voice. 

“Oh, sorry. It’s- Sorry. Anyway, there’s a dungeon out beyond the Felicity Wilds, a bunch of arcane energy coming off of it. I was gonna go check it out tonight, we could ask Mags to watch Angus for the night if you wanted to come with?” he explained. Taako nodded, leaning over to quickly scan the map. 

“Remind me, how far is that in relation to the last glassing?” he asked. He never really bothered to learn where everything was in this world, although he knew he should, since this was supposed to be their home now. 

“I’ve triangulated it here,” Barry explained. It wasn’t too far, but Taako couldn’t gather up the energy to be hopeful about it. They’ve already looked so many places. And each one was just _empty._ What was even the point of looking anymore?

“Yeah, sounds like a good a place as any. You wanna do the usual, I go down and start casting around, see if I can pick up anything and you start talking to folk?” _What were they even looking for?_

“Yep, I mean. It hasn’t worked so far, but it’s gotta work one of these times,” Barry said, but the conviction wasn’t there, like he didn’t quite believe what he was saying. 

“Taako, what if she’s just gone?” 

“Who?” 

\---

Barry wished he could be relieved when his body finally hit the ground and his lich form slowly rose from it, but being able to think clearly again made him all the more panicked at what had just happened. Why had their memories been wiped like that? What was going on? Who-

His form shuddered as the last moments before his most recent death replayed in his mind. Taako had looked so terrified and confused as Barry had _begged_ him to be killed.

(“Taako, k-kill me! Please! I’ll remember if I’m a lich, I can- please I’ll be okay! Just watch Angus, please kill me Taako I’m beggi-”) 

His first instinct was to fly right back up to the starblaster and make sure everyone was okay. Make sure his family was safe. 

He couldn’t though. He didn’t know what was going on but he needed help if he was going to fix it. If Taako couldn’t remember Lup there was no way he would know who he was. Oh _gods,_ Lup. He needed to find Lup. 

Taking one last look up at the starblaster, Barry reluctantly started away. It would be okay. He wouldn’t be gone for long. He trusted Taako to take care of Angus, only for a little while. Just until he had a plan. 

A month passed, and he still had no plan and no godly idea where Lup was. He- he needed help. Even if Taako couldn’t remember, he still had to trust him. They were family, and he _needed_ his family right now. 

Except he couldn’t find them. 

He found the starblaster easily enough, but they weren’t there. No one was. It was cleared and abandoned and there wasn’t any clue as to where anyone had gone off to. He searched desperately, another whole month of searching and _nothing._

His love, his brother, his family, his _son._ They were all just. Gone. 

The moment those thoughts hit him was the closest Barry had come to losing control of his lich form for good. 

The only thing that kept him going was the fact that Lup would kill him if he ever gave up. 

They had to be somewhere. He would find them. They had to be _somewhere._

And he did find them. Or at least, he found Taako. 

The rumor had confused him. Some new traveling chef. Going from town to town and offering dazzling performances mixing food with magic. Taako was a wonderful chef, yes, and certainly liked to put on a show, but the idea was strange none the less. Still, when he found the truck emblazoned with the ‘Sizzle it up with Taako’ logo, the elf in front of the small crowd was certainly him. 

And there was something horribly, horribly wrong with him. Everything was- it was hard to put a word on it. Dulled. Taako tripped over his words, uncertainty and confusion under the over the top performance. The confidence he put out had no real substance like it used to, so clearly an act. And the actual magic he was using, it was so _simple._ The transmutations showy yes, but nowhere near the skill Barry knew the wizard was capable of. More than once he was able to easily spot the tell that something had gone wrong with a spell, as much as Taako was able to cover it up as intentional to the rest of the audience. 

What _happened_ to him? 

It wasn’t hard for Barry to tear his attention away from the choppy performance, watching it made him as close to nauseous as a lich could manage. Slipping unseen, he snuck into the back of the stagecoach, expecting to find Angus back there, hopefully asleep and not left on his own. 

He wasn’t there. 

There wasn’t _any_ sign that a child had been around there at all. It didn’t. It didn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t he be with Taako? Even if he couldn’t remember he wouldn’t just leave him. He knew he wouldn't. This was his _family._

When the show was over he hid until he was sure Taako was alone. He needed answers. He needed to talk to his brother. 

“Taako,” he said, watching as the elf went from calmly walking back towards the stage coach to nearly falling on his ass in surprise as he spun around and aimed a wand at him. Clumsily, like he’d never learned how to battle with magic proper. It made Barry’s nonexistent stomach turn. 

“Whoa buddy, uh, if you want an autograph or something I can totally manage that. Always great to meet a fan. It really is dark out here huh. Holy shit where did you come from and why are you so spooky?” he asked, his fear still clear. There wasn’t any recognition at all. It barely sounded like he could organize the thoughts in his head as he spoke. 

“Taako, where is he?” Barry asked, keeping towards the shadows so that he couldn’t see his form all that clearly. He didn’t know how much he couldn’t remember, he had to be careful. He knew things would go strange if he brought up too many blocked memories. 

“I- uh, right here? I am Taako, yes. Look man you’re kinda freaking me out here, you’re real scary my dude,” he said, clearly not understanding the question. 

“Where’s _Angus?”_ Barry pressed, growing desperate. Taako had to know, he had to have some idea. He couldn’t lose him too. 

“Who?” 

Barry didn’t see Taako’s reaction to him disappearing in a burst of flames. 

\---

Lucretia hadn’t meant for things to go like this. 

She’d had it planned so carefully. Everyone would be able to have a break from this torment while she gathered the relics and put up her barrier. They’d understand once it was over with, and then they could go back to being a family. Safe from the hunger and safe from the horror they brought to this world. 

She had to change plans slightly when Angus was born, and then again when Lup went missing, but she could still do this. She could still let them be happy and save everyone. 

And then, after she had wiped everyone’s memories of their hundred years together, she couldn’t find Barry. 

She got Merle and Magnus to their new homes as fast as she could while she tried to figure out what to do. What was she supposed to _do?_ He was either lost somewhere, mind wiped while out looking for Lup without her realizing, or he was a lich. She couldn’t reason with him about her plan if he was, she knew he wouldn’t understand. 

Her first instinct was to give Angus to Taako while she searched for the relics. He was his uncle and had already been so involved in his life, but…

Taako. Taako was _changed,_ in a way that broke her heart. He was so lost, so aloof, so _scared._ She didn’t know what had put that fear into him when she found him collapsed on the deck, a hole blasted through the railings, but there was nothing she could do for it. He wasn’t as bad as Davenport, but she was still so worried to leave him on his own, she couldn’t leave him with a _child_ on top of that. 

She set him up with a stagecoach, a supplier, an audience. Something easy to keep him happy and constantly around people. Something, hopefully, to replace the hole Lucretia knew she’d torn inside of him. 

That still left her with one large problem though. 

She had nowhere to put Angus. 

So, she’d have to improvise. 

She couldn’t have a child around her while she gathered the relics, it was too dangerous and she wouldn’t have enough time to properly care for him. She already had to make sure she could protect Davenport, after the state she left him in. She took Angus and Fisher with her, hiding the starblaster and leaving it for now to find another base of operations. If Barry was a lich, she couldn’t have him using that to find her until her plans were compete. 

She found a man, elderly and rich, no family to speak of but kindhearted and caring. She fed what information about him that she could to Fisher, a bit sloppier than she would have liked, but it was enough to keep him from questioning the existence of his new ‘grandson.’ 

Angus would be taken care of. He’d have everything he’d need to grow up happy and healthy and away from all of this mess they made. He’d be safe until he could be brought back to his family again.

And with the last of her family safe, Lucretia could start her mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figure'd I'd might as well ride this wave of constant writing and updates for as long as I can, so here's another chapter way faster than I should reasonably be updating. I guess to be fair I've been really excited for this chapter, because yay we get the start of pain. 
> 
> also i'm a sucker for barry and taako being best fucking friends and fully accepting each other as brothers like the day barry and lup started dating. they're family, anyone who says otherwise can bite them. 
> 
> As always thanks for reading and i hope you've enjoyed so far!


	4. A Weird Kind Of Luck

Taako couldn’t say if this counted as a normal mission, since this was the first _official_ one they were going on. The three of them bumbling around like idiots and charming innocent Tom Bodetts into standing in front of trains seemed pretty par for the course though. If it wasn’t for the whole danger factor and having to give up most of their weapons Taako would say he was having a pretty good time. 

No one was even using the relic so far, so that made it like, some number percent better than Phandalin already. Just gotta ride the choo-choo and pick up the relic and then back to the moon, simple as anything. Taako was pretty sure even he couldn't screw that one up too badly. 

There was a little half-elf kid on the train, in a fancy suit with a fancy hat and a fancy voice. Taako doesn’t pay him much mind at first, he’s not exactly one for kids after all. All of them were either way too annoying or brats, and this one wasn’t an exception to that. There weren’t exactly a lot of people on the train though, and it certainly beat talking to _Jenkins._

And then when shit started going scary bad it turned out that kid was also like, smarter than the three of them combined. They weren’t doing too hot on the whole murder mystery case on their own. So sure, no harm in letting the boy wonder help out in that regard. 

They didn’t really _need_ it though, not when they realized they were dealing with such a shitty goddamn wizard. 

There was something fucking weird with the kid that wouldn’t stop bothering Taako though. Like, he wasn’t from the bureau, cause he got static and shit, but he didn’t seem all that suspicious of it. Or like, he had his priorities in order when it came to ‘serial killer on the loose’ verses ‘spooky noises.' Merle and Magnus didn’t trust him at first, which made sense because he was _weird,_ calling out their (completely believable and convincing) lies. 

But for some reason Taako took one look at the inceptor book, another look at the little brat smugly going on about how he could get them all in a lot of trouble, and decided fuck it, he _liked_ him. There was no reason to give themselves away at that point, but the brat already knew, and that didn’t bother Taako for some reason. 

Sure, none of that stopped him from throwing the kid off of a moving train (it was for his own good, the thing was about to crash) and stealing his granddad’s silverware set (he gave _three forks_ back okay? That was like, the greatest act of kindness Taako had ever bestowed on a person in his life) but still, he liked him. 

Despite that, he was completely content to throw the little business card labeled ‘Angus McDonald’ into the bottom his bag and forget all about it. 

Apparently he forgot a hell of a lot more than he intended, because the next time he saw the kid he was _so confused._ Not by the fact that a literal child was working for the bureau now, or that he’d managed to figure out about their organization or anything like that. Honestly, those things didn’t faze him in the slightest. Angus was way smarter than him and he was out on his own and working at his age. Or well, the elf equivalent. 

What confused him was he couldn’t figure out why the _hell_ he thought Angus had died. 

He remembered getting everyone off the train, and it being their least deadly mission yet. He remembered giving back the forks and Angus giving them pringles for their roommate. 

But for some reason his brain had been convinced that no, that kid died on that train. He was never going to see him again. 

That clearly wasn’t the case though, and Taako shrugged off the relief he felt at that revelation. Turns out they did an even better job than he thought, good news. He would’ve felt _kinda_ shitty if the kid had actually like, got dragged under the tracks when he threw him off the train or something. 

So, living Angus, gonna be a permanent fixture around the BoB. Their own personal seeker to help em on missions and shit, because they apparently needed help from an actual fucking baby (he _had_ been helpful on the train, but that was besides the point). Eh, no skin off old Taako’s bones, he wasn’t actually going to bother with the kid outside of finding the relics. 

Or, he had planned not to. Oh boy had he planned not to. Look, Taako wasn’t one to brag, but he was _pretty good_ at staying out of situations he didn’t want to be in. It was kinda his whole stitch. He was a fucking wizard, he wasn’t gonna go running in and phantom fist someone in the face. 

He guessed Angus was a pretty okay detective though if he could keep fucking finding him. Maybe not world's greatest like he said, but up there for sure. 

“Good evening sir! How are you doing tonight?” he asked happily. Way too happily for Taako to want to deal with. 

“Pretty good before now,” he said simply, not bothering to slow any as he walked through the bureau. Angus didn’t seem any deterred by that, starting to trot along next to him. 

“I'm sorry, I don’t mean to bother you if you’re busy sir, but since I’m a seeker now and am going to be helping you out on your missions I thought I should start some research. I already asked the Director about all she knew about the relics, and she was very informative!” he started rambling on. Oh boy, why did he have to find him all the way on the other side of the moon from their dorm? This was going to take forever. Would casting blink be worth it? 

“Guess you got all the info you need then kid,” Taako said, but Angus was instantly shaking his head. 

“Oh no not at all sir! The director was very helpful, and I spoke to Magnus about how your missions have gone as well. One of the most interesting things they both said was that you were the one who’s been able to pick up the relics and resist the thrall the most so far. That’s incredible, by all accounts no one else has ever managed to do such a thing! How do you do it?” he asked, and Taako swore there were fucking stars in his eyes when he asked that. 

“Oh, that. Yeah no, dumb as a box of rocks,” he said, knocking on the side of his head for good measure. The enchanted look on Angus’ face dropped to one of confusion. 

“What do you mean sir?” he asked, and Taako was starting to get tired of people asking him how he managed to resist these things. He just could, wasn’t that difficult. The things they did to people were _scary,_ he didn’t want anything to do with that nonsense.

“I mean I’m too much of an idiot for those things to get to me my dude. I mean, that one we found with you? It was all ‘oooh, I can make anything you imagine _real’_ but like, what in the world could I imagine? Something cooler than me? That’s fucking impossible. The closest would just be like, _another_ me. Oh shit, that could’ve been dope, maybe I should’ve listened to the weird old man glasses after all,” Taako was rambling now, not paying attention to the kid walking alongside him anymore. When he remembered to glance back down at him, Angus was frowning. 

“Sir, that doesn’t make any sense,” he said and Taako shrugged. 

“I mean, I would have to share the spotlight and that would be less rad, but I could send the doubles on missions for me while I kicked it up here, so I think that’d be worth it,” he reasoned, but Angus was shaking his head. 

“No, sir I’m not talking about the cloning idea, although that doesn’t make much sense either. I mean you being too dumb to fall into the thrall,” he explained. 

“Well that’s the only reason I know, but I _am_ an idiot sooo,” he said. Taako didn't like where this conversation was going. He didn't particularly care for people who didn't fucking know him continuing to try and say he wasn't an imbecile. He didn't know much but he _did_ know that. 

“I don’t think you’re an idiot sir,” Angus was protesting, but they’d finally gotten to Taako’s dorm, so he’d pretty much stopped paying attention to the kid. This conversation was over. 

“Coolbeans my dude,” Taako said, not looking back as he headed inside, shutting the door behind him before Angus could try and work his way inside. He heard a quick ‘oh, goodbye sir!’ get cut off by the door closing and breathed a sigh of relief. Fucking freedom. 

What a weird kid. 

\---

Angus McDonald had always considered himself to be very lucky. 

Of course, it wasn’t all luck. He put in a lot of hard work in order to achieve his goals. His grandpa always told him that hard work was very important. He wouldn’t have been able to become the world’s best detective on luck alone, but it certainly did help. 

And Angus considered himself to be very, very lucky to be on the Rockport Limited that day, despite how close a call it had ended up being. 

He hadn’t had such a captivating and difficult mystery in quite a while, and he needed things like that if he was to keep on being the world’s greatest detective. More than that though, it had been the stepping stone for something much better than solving the one off cases for anyone willing to hire a ten year old, even one with his skills. 

He knew something was strange with Mr. Magnus, Mr. Merle and Mr. Taako. They weren’t exactly the nicest people, what with their goofs and the way they treated people without really thinking about it, but they didn’t strike Angus as _bad._ The weird static noises that cut them out and the item Jenkins had been after they couldn’t speak about was all fascinating, like pieces of a puzzle he couldn’t quite manage to fit together correctly. It was just that though, fascinating, not malicious or foreboding. 

Maybe it was the way they all worked so hard to try and save everybody on the train, or the way Mr. Taako had decided to trust him despite the fact that most people just saw him as an annoying little kid. They clearly saw him as that too, but it wasn’t the _only_ thing they saw. 

Whatever it was, Angus really hoped that he would see them again, and carefully started looking into things that could censor information the way the static had for them. 

That was how he found the missing forgotten persons reports, which led him to the bureau! 

He was very, very lucky in that regard. 

When he approached by someone with the same bands on her arm as he remembered those three from the train wearing, he was excited at finally having a break on that personal quest. His grandpa had told him not to go with strangers, which is why he made sure to talk to people and find out who they were before going with them, but Ms. Director wouldn’t give him her actual name. 

She was so nice though, and he needed to get to the bottom of the strange static that was covering her voice up as well. He might not get another chance like this one. 

Plus, his grandpa had died before Angus had even managed to get to his house, so he could stand not to listen to the rules just this once. At least he hadn’t needed to tell him about the missing silverware that way. 

So, he let the Director take him up to her base, fighting so hard to concentrate past the fuzz that covered his mind once he was there. It hadn't worked, and the guard at the front had been sorry about not having anything that would help that he could give a kid. Angus had told him being a child didn't matter, but he just laughed. When he was fully inoculated with the voidfish’s ichor that confusion left and he immediately started piecing together all of the newly returned memories. 

And then he was offered a job as a seeker, able to put his talents of finding information and deduction to good use helping those very three he’d met on the train gather the remaining grand relics. 

This was the best thing to ever happen to him! 

The director got him all set up with his own room on the base, telling him everything they knew about the relics and showing him around the library where the other seekers worked. He even got to have a cool grand entrance to surprise Magnus, Merle and Taako! The goofs they pulled didn’t even bother him, this was all much too exciting. 

It _was_ a little weird that Taako thought he’d died, but Mr. Taako was a little weird to begin with. That was what made him so fascinating though, especially when Angus found out that he was the one who’d managed to resist the thrall of the relics the most. 

But when he tried to ask him about it, the answer he got really wasn’t what he expected. 

Angus didn’t believe the ‘being too dumb to fall into the thrall’ explanation in the slightest. 

For one thing, he’d already looked through what little records they did have of the war and those who had wielded the grand relics. Not all of them were exactly the smartest beings Angus had ever heard of. If intelligence was something you needed to fall into the thrall, there should probably be more people who’d be immune to the effects. 

For another thing, he really didn’t think Mr. Taako was all that stupid. 

He was certainly, uh, peculiar, and didn’t seem to pay attention to what was going on a lot of the time. Angus had seen him piece together a large part of the whole Jenkins mystery though, and then watched in amazement as the wizard cast the gate spell in order to save everyone. Maybe there was a little bit of hero worship happening there, but it had been the most amazing use of magic Angus had ever seen. 

So no, he didn’t think Mr. Taako was able to resist the thrall because he was ‘dumb.’ 

But he didn’t have any alternative theories as to how he could either. 

Of course, this was all new information, he’d only been on the base for about a week now after all. He hadn’t even been able to officially help them through a mission yet, he was sure once that happened he could really start piecing these things together. 

He’d figure this out, or else he wasn’t the world’s best detective. 

And now moon’s best detective too, he supposed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> onto the main part of the fic now! Angus and Taako bonding time forever. Shit's gonna get downright _domestic_ up in here. i wanna say thanks to everyone who's kudo'd/commented/subscribed and such so far, it's a little weird writing for a new fandom and i'm glad this had been well received. As a headsup, the actual relic missions are probably gonna be just skimmed over slightly, because we already know how those go and such. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed so far!


	5. Candlenights Shop and Prep and Disconnect

Angus McDonald knew there was something that made those three special, and he was going to get to the bottom of what exactly that was. 

Or well, he was trying to get to the bottom of it. Normally it wouldn’t be that difficult a task for the world’s greatest detective either, but there was one small issue. 

None of them seemed particularly fond of spending much time with him. 

He knew Merle didn’t like him much at all and Angus had decided from pretty early on that it would be best to not focus his attentions on the cleric. Magnus was nicer, although he did play goofs and keep away with him a lot. Still, he was at least willing to answer Angus’s questions while he did those things. The only issue was that Magnus genuinely didn’t seem to know anything about their immunity to the relics. It wasn't too surprising, he wasn’t exactly a magic user after all. No one could expect him to have in depth knowledge of legendary magical objects. The lack of answers were still disappointing though. 

And Taako, well, Taako was hard to pin down. He didn’t seem like he was lying, but everything he said was so wrong, Angus couldn't take any of his guesses as a serious theory. He was such a great wizard, he had to know more than he was letting on. Or at least, he had to know more than he let himself think he did. 

Still, the last few times he’d tried to broach the subject with the elf he’d been shut down by Taako’s insistence that he was just stupid or something else along those lines. He’s dumb and the relics are scary and he was already great enough he didn’t need something like that. None of it made sense to Angus, but he was starting to think he might have to wait until he could gather more information in other ways. He could give it a break until they went on a real mission that he could help them on and see how it went for himself. 

So this time when he ran into Taako it wasn’t with the intention of asking him about the relics. Instead, it was more due to the fact that he was bored and didn’t quite know many people on the moon base all that well yet. He got the feeling that a lot of them were kind of uncomfortable and unused to having a child around, even if Angus insisted that they didn’t need to treat him any differently at all. If there was one thing about the reclaimers though it was that they certainly didn’t care about that. 

“Hello sir!” he greeted, excited as he bound up to where Taako was in the fantasy Costco. Angus couldn’t see what he had in his basket, but considering the aisle they were in it was most likely foods stuff for their dorm. 

“Oh boy,” Taako mumbled, not quite under his breath enough for Angus not to hear him. 

“Well, okay,” he said, some of the pep gone now. “I’m not here to ask you about the relics anymore, if that was starting to bother you. I’m fairly certain you’re all telling the truth with your understanding of all that,” he explained. Taako didn’t bother nodding or showing he was paying attention much at all, just grabbing a bag of sugar off of the shelf. He was staring at it intently, reading the ingredients before finally putting it into his basket. Angus wasn't sure why, there weren't exactly a lot of ingredients in sugar. At least, nothing special that wasn't in all other kinds of sugar. 

“Cool, cool. You say something?” Taako asked, and yeah Angus had started to get a feeling that he hadn’t been paying attention. 

“No sir, what are you buying?” he asked, just trying to strike up some casual conversation. Taako still wasn’t looking at him as he tried to choose between two different, comically large sized crates of almonds. 

“Food homie, figured that wasn’t one a detective needed to ask about since we’re in a store and I’m grabbing food,” Taako said, not sounding all that impressed with him. 

“Oh no sir, I knew you were buying food. I was asking if you were buying things to make something in particular,” Angus explained, following Taako as he started back towards where the 48 packs of eggs were. Shopping for food wasn't exactly the most convenient thing at the fantasy Costco, which was probably why most of the bureau didn't bother and ate at the cafeteria for the most part. 

“Ask what you mean then bubula,” he said, trying for a few moments to get the eggs to fit in the basket before giving up and casting levitate on them. “And nothing in particular my dude, just seeing where the ingredients take me,” Taako added. It kind of seemed like Taako was being very deliberate in what he brought though, so Angus wasn’t entirely sure how true that was. He didn't know why he'd lie about that either though. Of course, he wasn't sure anyone knew exactly why Taako did the things he did. 

Maybe he was making something for Candlenights. It was only a few days away and he did seem to be buying things for sweets. 

“Do you cook a lot sir?” Angus asked, rather curious about what Taako did besides magic and saving the world from ultra-powerful super weapons now. He was a bit surprised when the elf laughed at the question and quickly started shaking his head. 

“Oh nooo, nope, not at all,” he said, which was, uh, kind of a weird answer. It didn’t seem like he was _lying_ though, just strangely insistent. 

“Well, it’s a good hobby to pick up?” he suggested, but Taako was heading towards the checkout counter and not paying much attention to him anymore. 

“Sure, sure,” he mumbled, pretty clearly disengaging from the conversation. Before Angus could say goodbye however a nearly omnipresent voice boomed out at them from the register. 

**“What’s cooking good looking?!”** Garfield shouted, only seeming to take an interest on the one who was actually making a purchase. Actually, Angus wasn't sure if he was shouting. He'd never heard Garfield speak in lower volume before. He wasn't sure if he could. 

“God, would it kill you to put some self-checkout stations up in here?” Taako asked, pulling his items out of the basket. 

**“And miss making a deal? Yes. Yes it quite literally would,”** Garfield said, his voice taking on a serious undercurrent at the end that sent a chill down Angus’ spine. He started edging towards the exit of the store. There weren’t a lot of things Angus didn’t have an intrinsic desire to figure out, but Garfield was definitely one of them. 

“Um, goodbye sir,” he called to Taako, because leaving without saying goodbye would be impolite. The elf seemed surprised when he spoke, quickly turning towards him before waving dismissively at him. 

“You’re still here? Yeah alright bye,” he said, turning his attention back towards Garfield. “Look, if you’re so desperate to make a deal I think I can work something out for you,” he started, but Angus was already leaving the mega store and wasn’t interested enough to stick around to hear anything else. 

He supposed that hadn’t gone too badly, although he still got the impression that Mr. Taako didn’t care for him all that much. It didn’t bother him, from what he could tell Taako didn’t like most people. If he really didn’t want Angus around, he had no doubt the wizard could get rid of him. 

Mr. Taako put up with him though, and that had to count for something. 

\---

The kid didn’t stop finding little moments to pop up and annoy Taako. He guessed he had to be relatively stealthy and shit to do all the detective shit he claimed to do before the bureau, but it didn’t make it any less annoying when he showed up out of nowhere. Taako fucking swore he had to deal with the brat the most, and yeah, he was great and all so he could understand why people would be drawn to him, but he couldn’t spend all of his time entertaining every fan that crossed his path. 

Still, he didn’t ever try and shoo Angus away. He’d walk off and leave whenever he got bored with the kid but he did that with everyone. Honestly the worst thing was that he kept trying to figure out shit about the grand relics, and Taako didn’t know squat about them. He didn't particularly mind having some kid following him around starry eyed otherwise. So when Angus said he wasn’t looking for information on the relics when he showed up while Taako was buying groceries, he wasn’t too bothered by his presence. He didn't pay much attention to him though, his mind was focused elsewhere. This was important, he wasn't gonna forgot something or get the wrong ingredient and fuck up. 

Taako wasn’t exactly pleased when he finally made his way out of the fantasy Costco, but few could ever claim to be happy after dealing inside of that place. Still, he’d gotten everything he needed and he didn’t have any more excuses to keep him from enacting his plans. 

He also now had three spoons he didn’t need and cost way more than he’d cared to spend. He hadn’t even been planning to get them. He had his Candlenights shit set out, and that plan did not include returning some ill begotten silverware. 

The brat had been following him all around the store though, and so the idea had popped into his head. Taako wasn’t impulsive with a lot of things, but shopping was an exception. Gotta spend the money when you have it because it might not be there tomorrow and savings never fucking last. So when Garfield started clambering about wanting to make a deal and he had the boy detective on his mind Taako figured why the fuck not. There were worst ways to spend money. 

Once in the dorm, Taako threw the spoons into his room before setting everything else out in the kitchen. Magnus and Merle were both doing their own things for the day and that gave Taako plenty of time to himself. It was a lucky break, because Candlenights was in two days and tomorrow the two buffoons were planning on decorating the dorm and he wouldn’t have another chance. 

Taako told himself he’d waited until it was so close so that they’d stay fresh, and not that he was avoiding anything. 

Simple recipe, he’d made it a million times, no magic. Absolutely fucking nothing to worry about. Not even someone as stupid as him could screw up here. 

Getting to work, Taako hummed one of Johann’s songs as he began grinding the almonds to mix with the powdered sugar. He was trying to keep himself upbeat, shut out the feeling of claws squeezing his chest too tight and focus on the fact that this was something he liked to do. He kept finding himself rereading the packages of things, going over every ingredient again and again before putting anything together and it was a waste of time. He could _read,_ he knew all of these ingredients inside and out. He wasn’t using any magic, surely he couldn’t be dumb enough to fuck _this_ up. 

“Fuck this,” Taako snapped, picking up the mixing bowl and nearly throwing the whole thing in the trash before stopping himself and taking a few deep breaths. His hands were shaking and his breathing was still too tight but he didn't want to throw this out. 

He didn’t _need_ to do anything for Candlesnights. He never celebrated it as a kid, and he didn't have much of a reason to start. He didn’t give a crap about anyone here, he certainly wouldn’t be trying to cook for them if he did. 

This wasn’t for anyone else. He didn’t _care_ what happened. He just wanted to make some goddamn fucking macarons. 

Thinking of it that way, he was able to put the bowl back on the counter and keep cooking. 

The whole ordeal took at least twice as long as he knew it should have in the end, and he barely had time to hide the things before Merle and Magnus crashed their way back into the dorm. Still, he made them, and that night after everyone else was asleep he forced himself to eat one. 

He didn’t die, and it was a damn delicious cookie. He knew it would be, but it was good to know for sure that being out of practice hadn’t hampered his skills any. 

Taako managed to put them out of his mind for the rest of the day after that, but soon enough it was Candlenights and he was pulling them out of his hiding place, cheerfully offering them to the guests. 

With every one that was taken he kept repeating the same thoughts in his mind. They were safe. He didn’t care. They were safe and he didn’t fucking _care._

Taako had grabbed the spoons before the party, although he wasn’t really sure if he was actually gonna give them back to the kid. When he gave them all books and Magnus made some promise about not playing keep away he figured why the fuck not. He already brought them back and it wasn’t like he needed the spoons. Good karma and all that jazz. 

Angus might’ve been a little suspicious about how he got them now, but it seemed like he got distracted well enough. 

It wasn’t until he was walking away did Taako realize he forgot to offer a macaron, and the relief that pitted in his stomach at that realization was _deeply_ unwanted and unappreciated. He didn’t care what happened to the kid, and they were safe anyway. Before he could think twice Taako threw one of the cookies at Angus.

“I forgot!” he shouted after him, quickly getting distracted by someone else coming up with presents and well wishes. 

Taako tried to ignore the fact that he only gave Magnus and Merle macarons after the Director pressured him. 

Luckily enough he didn’t have to think about that shit for long before the Director started arguing with her necklace who turned out to be some nerd who found a relic. 

For some reason having to go to some weird lab and stop a grand relic from ionizing the whole world was a lot easier to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter wasn't quite as shotgun fast with the update but hey i'm still updating and that's the most important part. also oh boy, had to recover from that ending. goddamn was that good, fuck i love this podcast. 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!


	6. Simple Offer

Okay, maybe Taako was getting ahead of himself when he thought he’d rather go on another relic mission than suffer through the rest of the Candlenights party. The whole philosopher’s stone quest turned out to be a lot more complicated than go in, don’t touch the crystals, punch a nerd and grab a rock. 

There were a lot more ghosts and questionable scientific practices and arm loss than any of them had originally prepared for. Way too many close calls with death for his liking. A little bit of flirting with Death, and honestly Taako would’ve preferred a bit more of that part. He could start to see the appeal of rushing into certain doom if that was the face waiting for you when you kicked it, like damn. Dude didn’t seem super into it though, which was fine. He _did_ let them live despite the weird bounties they apparently had though, and Taako was 100% fine with claiming sole responsibility of using his charm alone to cause that. 

Despite all that extra bullshit though they managed to secure the philosopher’s stone, in a way. Only like one person who wasn’t already dead died and Taako was pretty sure someone technically came back to life, so that like, evened it out. Boyland’s death wasn’t even their fault, another win. 

Once everything was said and done though Taako was fucking _exhausted_ when they finally got back to the base. Screw meditation, he was going to go pass the fuck out the second he got the chance to. 

Well, first they had to uh, get the philosopher’s stone a little less secure than it currently was, because Magnus made poor life choices and even poorer food choices. 

When they went into the main relic destroy room there were still a few people awake, even at fuck o’clock in the morning. These people included Angus, who immediately smiled at them and gave the three a sleepy thumbs-up. 

Taako was reasonably sure that half-elves actually needed to sleep and that a ten year old shouldn’t be up this late for most species. At least he couldn’t tell he’d been crying earlier, that wasn’t particularly something he wanted to see in person. 

Instead of thinking too long on any of that though Taako gave the kid a thumbs-down and blew a raspberry at him. The look on his face was fucking priceless. Then Magnus had to go ruin it by doing some weird hand thing and getting him all excited and starry eyed. He was trying _not_ to think the kid was cute or worry about him or any of that bullshit. That wasn’t even real magic it was just a dumb finger trick (the fact that Taako couldn’t quite figure out how to do it himself had nothing to do with that opinion). 

After that and after turning Magnus into some horror show tube abomination the philosopher’s stone was safely extracted. And then it was nearly grabbed by Carey, which oooh boy would’ve been a bit of an issue. 

It really was a weird relic the more Taako thought about it. He wasn’t feeling the urge to run up and grab it like Carey had, but he couldn’t help but be kinda curious. Transmutation was kinda his thing after all, so it’d be interesting to see what it could do if he used it. For such a powerful thing though it was so plain. Nothing about it looked _special,_ it was just an ordinary grey rock. The rest of the relics they’d seen so far, well they weren’t exactly all super flashy, but they had their own styles for sure. The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet and Gaia Sash both had their own sort of pizzazz, and while the Oculus looked innocuous enough Taako could still imagine the appeal of wearing it. 

The philosopher’s stone was a fucking rock though. If you threw it into some gravel there was no clear way to tell which one it was. You’d think something like that would have a bit more _style,_ look a little more alluring to people. 

He guessed it didn’t need anything like that though. The thrall it had certainly did the job well enough. It could just be a plain ass rock and that shit could still destroy the whole world. 

There was something about that Taako couldn’t help but like, in a twisted sort of way. 

They all watched as the philosopher’s stone was _finally_ destroyed though, and Taako thought that he could sleep at last but nope. They had to get lectured by the director about the red robe and _then_ clean up their dorm and get a weird rhyme from an old fuse first. 

With all that bullshit finally out of the way, Taako went and passed the fuck out.

When he woke up the next day it was pretty damn late, which was exactly what he’d been hoping for. No idiot teammates or world ending catastrophes making him get up at an unpanly hour. Just a long, much needed sleep not interrupted by nightmares for once. 

The next day there was an idea starting to form in the back of Taako’s mind, and he pushed that shit down at first. He was still too tired from the whole philosopher’s stone adventure to have the excuse of boredom driving him. If he ignored it for now he’d probably forget and not have to consider actually going through with it. 

Except the idea was still there the next day, and the day after that. Instead of going away it was getting more solid in his mind, as much as he tried to tell himself he didn’t want it to. 

He was starting to get bored though, and honestly there was much worse company on the moon to have to put up with. 

“Ango, my dude,” he said, the kid practically jumping when he spoke and his ears twitching out from where they were usually hidden up under his hat. Taako hadn’t meant to surprise him like that, but the reaction was suitably hilarious enough for him not to care. 

“Oh, uh, hello sir! You don’t usually talk to me first, is something wrong?” he asked, and okay that was a fair point. Taako did not usually do the legwork when it came to interacting with others. This was apparently a special case though, although fuck if Taako knew why. 

“It better not be, I’m still sore from the whole crystal kingdom fiasco and I could stand a bit of a break before running after another dumb relic. Seriously, the world can stand to wait five minutes before needing me to save it again,” he said, sitting down in an exaggerated slump across from Angus. The kid nodded, a sympathetic look on his face that Taako did not need. 

“Retrieving the relics seems to be an even harder ordeal than I thought from the time with the Oculus. I can’t imagine doing missions like that back to back would be very fun or good for your health,” he said. 

“Preeetty sure our health went out the window when we started all of this,” Taako said, but this conversation was getting further and further from the reason he decided to talk to Angus to begin with. _“Anyway,_ talking about getting the relics and shit, you got pretty jazzed seeing Magnus do that little dumb hand trick when we got back that night, didn’t you?” he asked.

“I was uh, pretty tired at the time sir, but yes,” Angus said, sounding kind of sheepish at being reminded of the whole ordeal. Taako couldn’t blame him much for that. It had been a kinda ridiculous thing for someone who's a self proclaimed great detective to fall for. Still, he was ten, and Taako could understand that part at least. 

“Cool, so you know that wasn’t real magic right? Not like the magic I did to make your nose disappear and all the other chill as hell things I can do,” he said. Angus nodded, seeming pretty confused by where Taako was going with this. 

“Yes, like I said I was very tired,” he insisted, but Taako didn’t much care about that. 

“Mhmm, so you interested in magic then? Real magic I mean, not dumb tricks and sleight of hand bullshit,” he asked. Taako could tell that Angus was trying to figure out what the point of this was, the gears spinning around in his little nerd head and coming up empty. 

“I’m very interested in magic sir. I’ve read a whole bunch of books on the different kinds and understanding the principles behind them and all sorts of things,” he said and Taako nodded. That was about what he expected. 

“Yeah, course you have. Listen to me kid just reading books and shit won’t get you anywhere. How’d you like to learn some _real_ magic from yours truly?” he asked, feeling like he earned the right to sound smug there. He was a pretty fucking powerful wizard at this point and had stopped the world from being destroyed at least a couple of times now. He could stand to brag to some kid if he wanted to. 

He couldn’t focus on the showboating for long though, because Angus was staring at him fucking _star struck._ Kid looked like Taako had offered him a whole candy shop and made him the little boy who got everything he ever wanted. 

“I- you, you really mean that sir?” he asked, sounding so fucking hopeful it almost made Taako sick. He shrugged it off though, Angus was making a bigger deal out of this than it actually was. Just a couple of magic lessons, teach him a few cantrips or something to make up for taking that silverware. Angus was a smart kid, he’d probably pick up on it right away and the whole thing would take like, a week max. 

“Course my dude. Not like I got anything better to do on this floating rock,” he said with a shrug. It was true, when they weren’t hunting for relics they had a lot of free time on their hands. 

“Yes sir! Absolutely I’d love to learn magic! Thank you thank you _thank you!”_ Angus said, practically bouncing in his seat at this point. Damn it, he was never gonna get rid of the kid now was he? 

“Yeah sure whatever, maybe chill out some before I change my mind,” Taako said. Angus at least stopped him bouncing at that, nodding very seriously. 

“Right, yes okay sir I can be chill. Uh, when do you want to start? I don’t have a wand,” he asked, and Taako hadn’t actually thought about that. For as much as his brain wouldn’t let go of the idea he didn’t have much shit planned though.

“Uh, I dunno my man. I guess you can use tomorrow to find you a wand and we can start the day after?” he suggested. Angus nodded again, quickly gathering up the books he’d had sprawled around him when Taako had found him. 

“Alright sir! I’ll go see if Leon’s still in his office right now and ask if there’s anything they can spare,” he said, a huge smile still plastered on his face. Taako was pretty sure he was gonna run off with that but he stopped after a second. “Thank you again sir. I promise you won’t regret this,” he said, his voice way too fucking sincere for Taako. 

“Mhmm, you better keep that promise my dude,” he said, sounding as flippant as he could. It didn’t seem to bother Angus any though, the kid just smiling brightly once more before running off. 

Good god, this was such a huge fucking mistake. 

\---

Angus was sure that he’d gotten them killed. 

Madam Director insisted that wasn’t the case, nothing that happened down there was his fault, and she was sure they were fine anyway. The reclaimers were much stronger than that, there was no need to worry. Angus absolutely trusted her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be wrong, and- and 

He’d just been so _excited._ This was the first real mission he got to work with them on and prove himself, and they were actually asking for his help! This was so important and he didn’t want to let them down. 

The crystal golem spirit thing they kept running into was hard to pin down, but the trivia they needed answered was easy enough. He could help out with that no problem. 

Except there was a problem, because whatever strange robot they were dealing with got upset with them cheating and the stones of farspeech cut out and Angus could have gotten them _killed._

It wasn’t long before the signal came back though, and the three of them were all goofs like it wasn’t even an issue. It was such a relief, although Angus was still on edge until they all finally made it back to the base. The Director tried to tell him to go to sleep once it started getting real late, but he insisted that he needed to be there in case they needed his help. That was the whole reason he’d been hired after all, to help them gather the relics in any way he could. 

He didn’t know how much help he actually was, but in the end they managed to gather the philosopher’s stone. Angus tried to focus past the sleepiness when they finally got the stone out in front of everyone, wanting to take in as much as he could about the relic before it was destroyed. 

It looked so ordinary, but as Angus stared at it he wanted it. He really, _really_ wanted it. Carey was faster though, and Taako was faster than her and Angus couldn’t help but be relieved when the stone was out of sight and then destroyed. 

So _that_ was what the thrall felt like. 

He didn’t think about that for much longer though, because as soon they destroyed it he was heading back to his room to rest. He’d nearly forgotten it was Candlenights until he got back and saw the dimly lit bush he had set up in the corner and the macarons he’d grabbed from the party earlier. 

He was tired, but he was also hungry. Picking up the tray of cookies, Angus curled up on the couch next to the Candlenights bush as he ate them. They were _so good,_ it was hard to believe Taako didn’t cook much. Maybe he would more after seeing how much everyone loved his food. 

Angus must have been even more tired than he thought, because he never made it to his bed. Instead he fell asleep right there on the couch, empty tray of macarons still in his lap. 

The next day Angus didn’t expect anything to change after that mission. Well, maybe he did before it actually happened, but afterwards he was pretty sure that the reclaimer’s opinions of him hadn’t changed all that much. That was fine though, because they still found him useful enough to ask him for help and goofed with him after they got back. That had kind of surprised him at the time sure, but looking back when he was more awake he was pretty sure they were trying to entertain him with their antics. 

Still, Angus expected that things would stay pretty much the same after that. 

So when a few days later Taako sought him out and offered to teach him wizardly magics completely unprompted Angus couldn’t believe it.

As soon as Taako had decided when their lessons would start he’d ran off to find himself a wand. Mr. Leon was already out for the day though, and sure Taako had said he could get his wand tomorrow but what if something came up and he didn’t manage to get it and then he wouldn’t have a wand for magic day. It was almost pressing enough for him to go see if he could find something at the Fantasy Costco, but Magnus had told him about the other day when he had to trade some of his blood for a deal and Angus was pretty sure that _hadn’t_ been a goof. 

After much deliberation Angus decided setting an alarm for first thing in the morning was a good enough balance of risks. If Leon didn’t have anything then he would brave the Fantasy Costco. 

Thankfully he managed to catch the artificer as soon as he was setting up the next morning. Although giving out magic items was against the bureau’s policies something as basic as a wand was allowed. Leon had seemed noticeably displeased when Angus had explained that Taako was going to teach him magic, but he filed that away as a mystery he could figure out later. 

Once he had his wand Angus ran back to his room, not sure whether or not he should see if he could cast anything. He’d tried in the past, but never managed to get anything to work. It would probably be best to wait until Taako’s lessons started tomorrow. 

He was so _excited_ though, he didn’t want to wait. He was going to learn _magic_ from _Taako!_

Taako actually wanted to teach him magic, Angus hadn’t even hinted about asking him to do something like this. He knew it was probably just because the wizard was bored, but he couldn’t help but think it was a little bit more than that. There were plenty of other things Taako could do to take up his time that didn’t involve Angus after all. 

He was choosing to spend time with him though, and Angus couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again with the semi-consistent updates. I've actually managed to get a human like sleeping schedule down so i've been awake enough to write, which is nice. things are gonna start slowing down from here as we get into lots of bonding between the relic missions, so i'm excited for that. 
> 
> You can't tell me Angus wasn't over the moon when Taako offered to teach him magic. that would've been an amazing scene to see
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	7. Starting To

Magic day, magic day, it was magic day! 

Angus had woken up even earlier than he normally did, and he knew it wasn’t anywhere near the time Taako would want to start their lessons but he was too excited to go back to sleep. He could be patient though, or at the very least he could keep himself from bothering Taako at 6 am. He’d told him he wasn’t going to regret this after all, and he was pretty sure doing that would make the wizard rethink his choices, and that was the _last_ thing Angus wanted. 

So, he tried to distract himself a bit. The bureau cafeteria had only just opened, so he got dressed and went down there for some breakfast first. A good way to both pass the time and wake himself up all the way. There was hardly anyone in there this early in the morning, but that also meant there was still a full selection of all the food. Grabbing some eggs and a lemon muffin Angus went and sat down at one of the empty tables, cracking open the book he brought with him to read as he ate. 

It was a beginner’s guide to magic, and he’s already read this one before but he wanted the information to be fresh in his mind. Angus had attempted some of the spells inside of it before, but he’d never managed to get any of them to work. He didn’t try any of them now, although he was very tempted since he finally had a wand. He’d left it back at his room for that very reason. 

Taako was going to teach him magic, and he could wait for the lesson to start before trying anything. 

When he finished eating and managed to re-read the whole first three chapters Angus rushed back to his room, hoping it was late enough to try and contact Taako about the lessons. 

7:09 am. 

Damn it. 

Okay, Angus put the magic book away. Clearly continuing to think about today’s plans wasn’t a very good method of passing the time without getting impatient. There were other things he could do though, lots of options to take up his time for a couple more hours. 

Angus was just drawing a blank on what any of those were. 

He could read, something not magic related. Maybe reread one of his Caleb Cleveland novels? Those were always great. 

He’d already reread them _so much_ though. He loved them absolutely, but he had every page memorized. There were other books in the library here, and he’d found lots of interesting ones so far. Angus was pretty sure if he tried to look for something now though he’d find himself looking through all the magic books they had. Maybe he could find one on transmutation magic? When he read through Taako’s record it said that was the school he specialized in. 

Nope, no, no. He wasn’t going to do anything with magic until it was time for his lesson. He didn’t want to try something and get disappointed when it failed before he even started. 

He guessed he could go for a walk or something. Maybe go down to see the voidfish, it was such a pretty creature. He could, uh, try and figure out more about the relics. The philosopher’s stone had been an experience to behold, and he could understand what Taako meant by them being scary now. 

As he tried to think of more things he could do Angus just kept coming up empty. 

He guessed there really wasn’t much for a little boy to do on a moon base. 

Oh well, it was only a few more hours. Learning about the relics took up most of his time now anyway, enough that he hadn’t noticed how bored he’s been lately at least. He could start practicing magic as soon as the lessons started too. That would definitely help. He just had to wait until they started. 

7:34 am. 

Angus was going to _die of boredom._

He ended up walking around the moonbase, and that didn’t make him less bored but it got out some of the pent up energy. He went down to the voidfish chambers, but Johann was only just waking up still and didn’t seem too thrilled to have him anxiously waiting about. Not that Johann seemed to thrilled about anything, but it was even less thrilled than usual. Johann didn't outright tell him to leave, but Angus could take a hint. 

Somehow, time slowly managed to crawl it’s way to 9:30 am, and Angus figured that was late enough that Taako wouldn’t hate him if he tried to talk to him now. Heading back to his room, he pulled out his stone of farspeech and connected to Taako’s frequency. 

“Excuse me sir? I’m sorry for bothering you,” he said into the stone, hoping the elf was already awake. From the sound of fumbling and sleepy grumbling he kind of doubted it though.

“Huh? What’s up did Merle die again?” came a very groggy and confused voice. Angus blinked in confusion at the question. 

“Um, no? Why would you ask that sir?” he asked. There was a bit more fumbling, a yawn and the sound of a bang and Taako’s voice a lot more distant than it was before cursing. Angus really didn’t need to be the greatest detective in the world to figure out that he’d dropped the stone. 

“Why does anyone ask anything? Anyway what do you want at fuck all in the morning?” Taako asked once he managed to fish the stone out from wherever he dropped it. 

“Well, people ask questions to get information sir, mostly,” Angus told him. Somehow, he could feel Taako rolling his eyes. “And it’s 9:36 am, it’s really not _that_ early.” 

“Didn’t answer my question bubula, why are we talking right now when we could be sleeping?” Taako asked. 

“Well, uh,” Angus started, suddenly nervous. What if Taako forgot they were gonna do magic today? What if he’d been joking and didn’t actually want to teach him at all? “You, well you said you’d teach me magic today. I was just, you know, wondering what time you wanted to meet up. For the magic lessons,” he explained, his voice getting quieter and quieter as he continued. 

“Fuck, right that’s today isn’t it?” Taako said, and Angus knew that Taako forgot a lot of things but the idea that he might’ve forgotten this was really disappointing. 

“We don’t have to do it today if you made other plans or you don’t want to sir. I understand,” he forced himself to say. He really wanted to learn magic from Taako, but he wasn’t going to force him. He’d just been excited was all, he’d get over it. He could figure magic out by himself, he was smart after all. He figured out most things by himself, one more wouldn't hurt. 

“Aw hell naw my dude,” Taako said before Angus could get himself too upset. “We are _for sure_ doing the magic shit today. What time did you say it was? 9 something? How about like, at 2 in the cafeteria. Did you get yourself a wand?” he asked. Angus felt the smile and excitement return to him almost instantly, grabbing his wand gingerly off of his bedside table even though Taako couldn’t see it. 

“Yes! I got it yesterday just like you said to,” Angus told him. 

“Fuck yeah,” Taako said before yawning loudly. “Alright, now let cha boy sleep. Here’s a magic lesson preview for ya, a wizard always needs to get their sleep.” 

“I thought elves only needed to meditate sir,” Angus said, still smiling even when Taako started grumbling at him. 

“I’m the teacher here and _I_ say wizards need sleep,” he insisted. Angus had a feeling Taako was going to use his position as teacher to excuse a lot of things. He couldn’t bring himself to be bothered by that. 

“Whatever you say sir. See you at two!” Angus said, not looking forward to having to wait almost five hours, but he was too excited to be upset about it. 

“Mhmm, later Ango,” Taako said, already sounding like he was half asleep again. Angus didn’t mind though, turning off his stone of farspeech and putting both it and his wand carefully back down on the bedside table.

He didn’t know why, but talking to Taako had alleviated a lot of the nerves Angus had been feeling before. He still didn’t want to have to wait all the way until 2 o’clock, but he no longer felt like he’d never get a chance to learn magic if he didn’t start right this second. 

He was going to learn magic from Taako and it was going to be _amazing._

\---

Taako supposed the first magic lesson with Angus hadn’t gone _too_ terribly. 

The kid definitely had a knack for it, even if he didn’t seem to think so. The magehands hadn’t been _pretty,_ but after a couple of tries Angus could keep them around for a good thirty seconds and could hold up a whole potion jar. Well, maybe hold was the wrong word, since workable fingers weren’t quite something he’d managed to figure out yet. Still, when Taako had put the potion on top of the hand it had stayed balancing for a good while. Those were some major accomplishments for someone who’d just started magic that day. 

So yeah, that part of the lesson had gone well. Taako didn’t have many doubts that it would, since Angus was a smart kid and Taako wasn’t too bad at magic himself. 

Nah, the weird parts had been everything else. Like, Taako had actually been trying to reassure the kid he was doing a good job. Sure, he’d poked fun at the horrifying mangled hand he’d created and had Angus stab it, but when he seemed genuinely disappointed by how it turned out Taako explained how it was actually pretty good. 

Taako wasn’t _used_ to doing shit like that, and he definitely didn’t think he was very good at it. At least Angus was a pretty easy kid to please and accepted his word almost without question. Not completely without question, that would make shit too easy and the brat was way too skeptical and curious about everything to do something like that. Still, he didn’t argue with Taako when he told him he was doing a good job, which was all he was asking for right now. 

The issue was _why_ was he asking for that? He didn’t fucking care about this kid. He kind of let him know that too, when he went and explained why he didn't cook anymore. Which, ugh, he hadn’t meant to do that. He was pretty sure that made Angus feel shitty which meant he owed him even more magic lessons. 

Taako was pretty sure he was supposed to feel extremely annoyed and dread the idea of doing this longer than was absolutely necessary. When they finished up thought and Angus was asking when they could ‘perhaps maybe do this again if you wanted to sir please’ Taako hadn’t thought twice before shrugging and telling him “hell yeah my man, same time tomorrow.” 

And so now it was just that, same time tomorrow, and Angus was bouncing into the cafeteria with the same amount of enthusiasm as he had the day before. At least he wasn’t chanting ‘magic day’ again. Taako wasn’t sure if he could stand that happening every time. 

“Good afternoon sir! I can’t wait to continue our magic lesson!” Angus said as he came over to the table Taako was waiting at, a huge smile on his face. 

“Well don’t be too excited, we're just gonna be working on your mage hand some more,” Taako told him. It wasn’t the most exciting thing, working on the same spell over and over, but it was better than starting a bunch and having to keep them separate in your head when still learning. That didn’t seem to bother the kid in the slightest though. 

“Yes, I promise to get it right today!” Angus said, and he sounded determined enough that Taako didn’t doubt he’d get something good by the end of the day. That wasn’t the issue though, and Taako couldn’t keep himself from frowning. 

“Hey now my dude, you don’t gotta get this shit right away. Like, you probably will, but it’s no rush if you don’t,” he said. It was real easy to tell this kid was a perfectionist, and that wasn’t a good mentality to have when it came to learning magic. Spells fucked up and took time to learn and weren’t always pretty. As long as you kept it from actually hurting people you were golden in Taako’s book. 

“If you say so sir,” Angus said, not sounding too convinced. 

“I do say so, and I’m the teacher so I’m right and little twerps like you can’t argue with me,” he said. Angus just fucking giggled and nodded, and Taako tried to ignore how cute that was. Brat wasn’t allowed to be adorable. 

“Right, so mage hand, lemme see you take a crack at it,” Taako said, changing the subject. Angus quickly went serious, starting to channel the simple spell. It was a little more mangled and unsteady than the ones they ended off on yesterday, and Taako started instructing him on how to hold his hands properly and such. 

Over the next couple of hours Angus did manage to get a pretty decent hold on mage hand. He could pretty consistently get four fingers and a disjointed looking thumb by the end of it, and it looked pretty freaky as it twitched unevenly to copy Angus’s movement, but it was working. 

“Alright, one more, because I need a high-five from that freaky looking abomination you conjure up,” Taako said. Angus cast the spell a bit quicker this time, which resulted in the pinky only being a stump along with the thumb all weird, but the kid didn’t seem too bothered by it, moving it to meet Taako’s hand in a high-five. 

Angus quickly let the spell fade afterwards, and Taako could see that the kid was starting to get tired. It made sense, even though it was a cantrip he’d cast it a whole bunch of times, and he was still real fucking new to magic. “Alright, magic school time over, Taako’s bored and you need to follow through with the first wizard lesson,” he said, standing up and stretching his hands up above his head, letting his back crack satisfyingly. 

“What’s that?” Angus asked, sounding genuinely curious. 

“Pay attention kid or I’m gonna actually quiz you on this shit. The first wizard lesson was clearly getting sleep,” he said. 

“You know sir,” Angus started, and Taako didn't like the tone of voice he was using. “You really are a lot nicer than you pretend to be.” Taako frowned, turning back towards the kid and raising an eyebrow at him. 

“And what does _that_ mean?” he asked. 

“Well, you’re always playing those goofs, and they’re great, but they can make it seem like you don’t care sometimes. You’re a really nice teacher though and you aren’t upset that my mage hands are still kinda gross looking and I just- Thank you. For teaching me,” Angus said, so fucking sincerely and still looking at Taako like he gave him the fucking _world_ by teaching him some dumb little cantrip and it felt like a lead weight dropped into the elf’s stomach. 

“I don’t,” he said, his voice tenser than he meant for it to be. Angus’s face dropped to one of confusion. 

“Don’t what?” he asked.

“Don’t care,” Taako said, because it was _true._ “I don’t know what impression you got but I really don’t give a shit, I’m just here because they pay me and if the world ends I won’t have any place to live, but it doesn’t fucking keep me up at night,” nightmares happened yeah, but he fell back to sleep easily enough. He didn’t even need sleep anyway. “I’m not being an asshole teaching you because no one learns well that way, and if I’m gonna teach you magic I’m not gonna have it be a huge waste of time,” he continued. 

Angus was looking upset, but like Taako said, he didn’t care. 

“So yeah,” he said, feeling awkward despite himself. “No fucking need to thank me, just something to do, ya know?” Angus nodded, slowly standing up and grabbing his wand off of the table. 

“Right, of course sir,” he said simply, and Taako told himself he didn’t care about how dejected the kid sounded. He didn’t care about _anything._ It was a hell of a lot easier not to care. “I guess I’ll see you around then,” he added, starting towards the cafeteria exit. 

Should just let him go, let him leave, it didn’t fucking matter Taako’s good out here. 

“Hey Ango, better see you right back here same time same place tomorrow alright? I want you lifting up one of these tables with mage hand by the end of the week,” he said. When Angus turned back towards him the hurt look on his face was replaced with one of confused amusement. 

“I thought mage hand could only lift up to ten pounds?” he asked. 

“Maybe if you’re a quitter,” Taako grumbled, crossing his arms. He hated the way some of the tightness in his chest left when Angus laughed.

“Alright then sir, I promise to do my best,” he said, all smiles again. 

“Yeah of course you will,” Taako said, making it sound like a complaint. It didn’t bother Angus though, the kid just nodding before making his way fully out of the cafeteria. Taako waited a few moments before huffing and starting back towards his dorm.

Gods fucking damn it all. 

He was starting to care about the brat, wasn’t he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a fun chapter to write, i wanted to do some of the magic lessons they had in between the first one and the L U P incident, since they said there was a few. Taako is really trying his hardest, but he stands no chance against Angus's cuteness, everyone loses that battle eventually. 
> 
> As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	8. Types of Learning

When Taako showed up for magic lessons the next day Angus was already waiting for him. That wasn't a surprise, the kid had showed up exactly at 2 o’clock every day so far, like he waited around the corner for the exact moment to come out. Actually, that’s probably exactly what he did, he was definitely dorky enough. Taako was gonna have to investigate that next time. Kiddo’s not the only one who can play detective here after all. 

Point was Angus was always punctual as shit, and today Taako's a little over fifteen minutes late. When he made his way into the cafeteria at a cool and casual pace, definitely not rushing or any of that shit, he caught sight of Angus sitting slumped at their usual table. Kid looked fucking heartbroken as he rolled his wand from one hand to the other across the table. 

“My dude,” Taako called out casually, because he had no reason to feel bad. The brat had no reason to look that sad just because someone was a little late, and even if he did that wasn’t actually Taako’s fault. The downtrodden look on Angus’s face was immediately replaced by excited relief as he jumped up at the sound of the elf’s voice. 

“Mr. Taako sir! I-I thought you weren’t coming. Yesterday you said you didn’t care about anything and then you weren’t here when I showed up like you usually are but I thought maybe you were just running a little late so I waited but you were taking so _long_ and-” Angus started yammering on at a fantasy mile a minute and Taako just sighed, holding up a hand. Luckily the kid got the message quick and stoped talking. 

“Ango, kid, my dude. Chill yourself for like five minutes,” Taako said. Angus nodded before slowly taking a deep breath, and that actually seemed to work some. 

“I’m really glad you decided to show up,” he said, and Taako had to keep himself from groaning out loud at that. Forget hunting incredibly powerful evil relics, this fucking kid was going to be the death of him he swore. 

“Listen, I said we’re doing magic today so we’re doing magic today. Training went a little sideways and Merle’s plant arm got stuck in an air vent and no one would let me just magic missile the damn thing because property damage or whatever, like we ever cared about that before. So cha boy was running a little late, nothing to get worked up about,” Taako explained, using a much shortened version of the events of the day. He was not in the mood to rehash all of the events leading up to that. 

“Oh wow that’s a lot,” Angus said, sounding significantly less worried now that he had an explanation of where Taako was. “Were you uh, able to get Merle’s arm back?” 

“Yeah, no worries,” he said, grateful to sit down at the table. He was supposed to have an hour break between training and meeting with Angus but that was completely wasted and he hadn’t even had time to grab something to eat. Hopefully Ango wouldn't want to go too long today and he could run off soon. “Transmuted the air vent to wood and Magnus chopped a spot big enough for the arm to crawl through.” 

“Oh! Clever,” Angus said, and Taako would swear he was being mocked if Angus didn’t sound so fucking earnest.

“Anyway, enough of that I don’t wanna think about all that mess anymore. Let’s get on with the magic already,” Taako said, directing the attention back to the reason they were actually there.

By the end of the lesson Angus pretty much had mage hand down pat. Taako had forgotten how hungry and tired he was at some point, the facts completely gone when Angus finally managed to conjure a mage hand with all five fingers working and un-mangled. 

_“There_ you go, looks like a fucking pro cast that spell,” Taako said, something dangerously close to pride in his voice. Angus was staring at the spectral hand in fucking awe when a smile flashed across his face. Before Taako could figure out what idea had gotten into the brat’s head he saw the mage hand come at him and felt his hat get plucked off of his hair. 

The mage hand deposited it on Angus’s head before dispelling, and the hat was way too big for him. The kid had to hold the brim up with a hand so that it didn't fall and completely obscure his face. 

“What do you think sir? Do I look like a real wizard now?” Angus asked, beaming up at Taako and kicking his legs back and forth, the kid’s regular hat bunched up in the hand not keeping the brim out of his face. 

It was ridiculously adorable and something about the scene made Taako’s heart _ache._

“Sir?” Angus asked again, a little more concerned this time and Taako guessed he’d taken a while to answer. That was weird. 

“Hah, more like a real _nerd,”_ Taako said, knocking himself out of whatever that was. Not thinking twice, he grabbed the little schoolboy cap out of Angus’s hands and put it on himself, striking a pose. “What do you say? Transmute myself up a magnifying glass and I’ll have you beat for world’s greatest detective, am I right?” 

Angus laughed at the display, having to push the hat up again when it began to fall down. “A hat and a magnifying glass aren’t the only things there are to being a detective sir. Although I suppose they are maybe about 30 percent,” he said. Taako scoffed, taking the too small hat off of his head and swinging it around on a finger. 

“Shows what you know kid. The hat is always at least 60 percent of any job or persona,” he said confidently. 

“Whatever you say sir,” Angus said. His arm must’ve gotten tired, because he stopped bothering to hold the brim up, letting it fall in his face. Taako took the opportunity to take his hat back, replacing it with Angus’s before the kid could do anything. He made sure the cap wasn’t hiding the little pointed half-elf ears as he did. They were one of the only ways you could tell there was any elf in him at all, and for some reason Taako didn’t like him hiding them. 

“Sure is whatever I say, I’m the teacher,” he said before a group of seekers Taako didn’t recognize came into the cafeteria. Or at least he assumed they were seekers, regulators usually looked less nerdy. “Wait shit what time is it?” he asked. 

“Uh, almost 5:30 sir? Sorry, I guess you’re running late here too,” Angus said. 

“Holy fuck no wonder I’m starving. Alright, congratulations you’ve officially mastered mage hand, lesson over. Taako needs to go get some shitty moon take out before he dies of starvation,” he said. 

“Of course sir, eating is very important,” Angus said, nodding earnestly. Taako made sure he had his wallet on him as the kid started packing up his shit. The cafeteria would be open for dinner in a few minutes, but like fuck was he gonna eat there. He had some standards. You'd think for a fancy base on the moon they could at least invest in some halfway decent cooking. 

“Um, sir?” Angus asked, stopping Taako just as he was about to leave. 

“What’s up bubula, every second here is a second closer to my death,” he said, reluctantly stopping. 

“Well, I just wanted to know, since I got mage hand down and everything I understand if you don’t want to do the magic lessons anymore,” he said, speaking in that quiet unsure voice again. Taako had to keep himself from sighing loudly, not sure why this annoyed him so much. He should be thankful this kid was giving him every opportunity he could to turn tail and run. 

He guessed the issue was he didn’t _want_ to stop teaching Angus. Every time he offered Taako the chance and he didn't take it that fact became more and more obvious. 

“Kid, can you name one self-respecting wizard that only knows one cantrip? Don’t answer that because you can’t, they don’t exist. Don’t think you can worm your way out of school that fucking easy,” he said. He ignored the relieved smile that spread across Angus’s face. 

“Of course not sir,” he said. Instead of waiting for Angus to find something else to worry about and hold up even more of his time, Taako nodded and started back out of the cafeteria again. 

“Make sure to keep practicing that shit now, can’t go forgetting the basic shit because you start learning cooler spells,” Taako called back as he left. He could hear a cheerful ‘yes sir!’ before the cafeteria door swung shut behind him. 

Taako went to the first place he could find without a long line and pretty much inhaled the shitty chicken sandwich he got. When he finally got back to his dorm Taako practically collapsed onto his bed. Fuuuck, that was a long day. 

Taako started taking his hat off, stopping halfway through tossing it onto the floor to stare at it. He couldn’t actually remember where he got this one, although it was by far his favorite. Something about Angus wearing it looked almost familiar. Maybe it just reminded Taako of when he was a kid or something. That made sense. Angus did kind of have his eyes after all. The resemblance was there, however small.

Or, he had elf eyes, same color as Taako's which admittedly wasn't super common, but still. He didn't have Taako's eyes because that would be fucking weird. 

Whatever it was though, it wasn’t important and Taako let the hat fall to the ground next to the umbra staff. 

The only thing he was ignoring more than the jab of pain he felt at seeing Angus in his hat was the swell of warmth that filled him at the sight.

\---

Angus was starting to think that maybe Taako was serious about teaching him magic after all. 

Sure, the fact that they’d had several lessons at that point seemed like proof enough, but you could never know with Taako. He was such a hard person to figure out sometimes, even for the world’s greatest detective. 

When he’d been late to their third lesson Angus had thought that was it. The wizard had gotten bored and decided it wasn’t worth his time anymore. Except then Taako had shown up, and Angus finally got mage hand right and the elf joked around with him and they switched hats and it had been so _fun._

And Taako told him that the lessons weren’t ending. The next day when he showed up the elf was waiting for him like usual and started showing him how to go through the steps for the light cantrip. 

It hadn’t even been a week since the lessons had started, so maybe Taako would get bored or they’d both get too busy with all their relic finding duties, but it’d already been so much better than Angus thought it would. Every so often Taako would get cold or pull one of his meaner goof, but those tended to happen after he did something particularly nice. 

They’d had to end their lesson early today, because Magnus and Merle wanted Taako for something. When Angus asked what, Taako had told him it was ‘better not to know things sometimes and anything to do with those chucklefucks definitely fit into that category.’ 

And so Angus was in his room, practicing the light cantrip in the dark. It was a lot easier to see what kind of progress he was making that way. He could just make out the book he’d pulled out that had several different cantrips in it, although he was trying to mostly go off of Taako’s instructions. 

Angus wasn’t sure how long he spent practicing, but it was a lot longer than his normal magic sessions would go and he was starting to get tired. Looking back at the book, Angus yawned as he tried the cantrip once again, not paying much attention and just following the steps in the book. 

Except this time instead of a little bead of light appearing at the end of his wand a small flame flickered forth instead. Angus almost didn’t notice for a moment, because the effect was pretty much the same. When he did though he immediately dropped the wand, and thankfully the spell ended before it fell to the ground and caught anything. 

Turning the light on, when he looked back at the cantrip book it didn’t take long for him to figure out what had happened. The spell produce flame was right under light, and he must’ve accidentally cast that without realizing it. Looking that spell over, they were indeed very similar. Thinking about what he’d did before, Angus attempted to cast the spell on purpose this time. 

It worked, a little flame flickering to life at the end of his wand. Angus almost went to go find Taako immediately to tell him what he’d figured out, but stopped himself after a moment. Taako was a busy person and couldn’t drop everything he was doing just because Angus had figured out a new spell. He could wait until magic lessons tomorrow to tell him. 

Except now he was awake and didn’t have anything to do. He cast produce flame a few more times, and Angus almost couldn’t believe that he could really do it. He’d tried so many times to do magic by himself but it never worked before. 

Taako was such a good teacher. Angus needed to thank him somehow. He’d always brushed him off whenever he said thank you though, so he needed to do something. Make him something maybe? 

It was hard thinking of what Taako might like though, let alone something he’d want that Angus could make. It took a while, but he could use his deductive skills for more than solving crimes. 

Macarons. Just like how Taako had made everyone for candlenights. It was perfect and he’d listened when Taako had explained the recipe to the director so he knew how to make them too. He was pretty sure no one had even realized he'd been listening in, so it would be a surprise too. 

It was also incredibly late and Angus was a lot more tired than he thought he was, but he’d have all morning tomorrow before magic lessons. He could head to the fantasy Costco first thing in the morning and have them done in time to meet with Taako. 

Angus didn’t remember until he was in the store the next day that a trip to fantasy Costco meant a meeting with Garfield the deals warlock. 

It wasn’t that he was afraid of him, it was just that Angus found him to be incredible unnerving and kinda scary. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was mortal? He didn’t know if he wanted to know. 

But still, Angus was sure that Madame Director wouldn’t let someone on the moonbase that would actively harm any of them, so the fantasy Costco was safe. Walking through the isles, Angus tried to remember everything Taako had mentioned being in the recipe. Almonds, eggs, cream of tartar, butter, salt, elderflower liqueur. Was that everything? He hoped that was everything. 

**“Mmm hello kiddo how’s it haaanging?”** Garfield’s voice came booming as he walked up to the resister. 

“Uh, it’s going good I suppose. How are you Garfield?” he asked as he put his groceries up on the counter. 

**“Could definitely be better,”** the warlock said, and Angus didn’t try and ask for clarification. He double checked and made sure he had enough gold for everything he needed to buy so a deal wouldn’t be necessary. As he started getting out his money though he heard Garfield make a disapproving noise. 

**“I’m afraid I’m gonna have to card you, can’t go selling a child alcohol or management will have my head,”** Garfield said, holding up the bottle of liqueur. Angus couldn’t help the look of disappointment that fell across his face. 

“But I need that for my cookies. I’m not going to drink it I promise,” he insisted, but Garfield just shook his head. Head? Head. 

**“Sorry but no can do, unless of course you’d like to make a deaaal and then I could maybe oh, look the other way,”** Garfield said and Angus sighed. He didn’t want to make a deal with the warlock, but he supposed as long as he kept from giving over anything like blood or hair he’d be safe. Hopefully. 

“Um, okay. I’ve got, uh,” he quickly shuffled through his bag, trying to figure out what would be worth it. His Caleb Cleveland novel? No. His wand? Absolutely not. Half-filled detective notebook? That wouldn’t be worth anything, and he still needed some of those notes. Hmmm. 

“What do _you_ want Garfield?” he finally asked. He had an idea, but he wasn’t sure if the warlock would go for it. 

**“I’m open to suggestions!”** he said, and that was about the response Angus expected. 

“Well um, I am the world’s greatest detective, so if you wanted to know something, or needed something figured out, I could do that,” he explained. Garfield was quiet for a moment, seeming to think over the offer. 

**“Soooo, you’re willing to perform a covert service at a later date in exchange for that illegal to minors substance you’ve got right there?”** he asked, and Angus very reluctantly nodded. 

“I’m not sure I like the way you worded that but yes,” he said. A large smile spread across Garfield’s face, which was kind of impressive because it always kind of seemed like he was smiling a bit too widely. 

**“I believe we have ourselves a deal! Now get out of here before someone sees you with that,”** Garfield said and Angus didn’t need to be told twice, practically sprinting out of the store. 

Rushing to one of the dorm kitchens, Angus started going through drawers and pulling out everything he needed. Fantasy Costco had taken longer than he’d hoped (and he was still a little unnerved about the deal he just made. What kind of strange, otherworldly mystery would Garfield ask him to solve? Usually mysteries excited him, but this one felt like it had the distinct possibility of making him lose his soul) but he should still have enough time to make the maracons before he had to go meet Taako. 

Going over the recipe in his head, Angus started to cook. Cooking wasn’t something he’d tried to do much before, and it was funny. Since this was Taako’s recipe he was using, it was kind of like Taako was teaching him how to cook too. 

For some reason, that thought made Angus smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm disappointed that produce flame is not an evocation spell but let's just say that Angus picked up a skill with fire in general from Lup okay? Taako can't escape the bonding moments ~~also if anyone wants to draw the scene where taako and angus swap hats i'll love you forever it's adorable in my head but i can't do art for shit~~
> 
> Also i realized I haven't linked my tumblr here yet and i've been posting more taz stuff so why not. You can find me [here](http://kravkalackin.tumblr.com/) at kravkalakin 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed


	9. L U P

Angus waited anxiously as the timer on the oven counted down. Ten more minutes until they were done, and he had to keep telling himself not to open it up and check on them. He didn’t want the heat to get out and for them to get ruined or not done all the way. He still had plenty of time before he had to go meet Taako, but he needed them to cool so he could put the icing on. 

“Hello Angus, are you making something?” 

Angus jumped at the voice, spinning around to see the director where she hadn’t been before. He was usually better at keeping track of his surroundings, but he was focused on his cookies and she was good at moving quietly when she wanted to. 

“Yes Madam Director ma’am, I’m trying out Taako’s macaron recipe,” he told her, watching as she walked further into the common’s kitchen area. She had a small smile on her face as she looked over the mess Angus had yet to clean up, although it changed slightly at the slight of the still mostly full bottle of elderflower liqueur. She was probably wondering how he managed to get a hold of that, but she didn’t ask him. Angus couldn't help but feel that was for the best. 

“Did Taako teach you how to make them?” she asked, and Angus quickly shook his head. 

“No, I overheard him telling you the recipe during candlenights and I wanted to surprise him,” he explained. She nodded, not seeming too surprised by that. 

“Well that’s very thoughtful of you Angus, I’m sure he’ll love that,” she said. She was always so nice, ever since she first brought him to the bureau, Angus couldn’t help but bounce slightly at the praise. 

“You think so? Taako’s hard to read sometimes, but I wanted to thank him for teaching me magic,” he said. That actually seemed to catch her attention, her eyebrows raising ever so slightly. 

“Taako’s teaching you magic?” she asked, and Angus’s smile grew as he realized he hadn’t told her yet. 

“Yes! He’s been teaching me all week. I finally got mage hand down and we started light and oh look I figured out how to do this all on my own last night!” moving some empty containers Angus grabbed his wand, casting off a produce flame. “I know they’re all just cantrips so far so it’s not very impressive but we’ve only been going for a week and Taako says I’m a natural at it even if they don’t come out perfect right away.” 

The director stared at him for a moment, and Angus was kind of used to that reaction when he dumped on people like that. She recovered quickly though, smiling warmly at him. 

“That’s quite an impressive amount of spells to learn so fast, Taako’s right about you being a natural,” she said, pride clear in her voice. “It must not have been too hard to convince him to teach you once you got started,” she added, but Angus shook his head. 

“Oh no, I didn’t need to convince him at all. Mr. Taako offered to teach me himself, he’s been really nice about it too! Well, as nice as he gets,” Angus told her. The director looked genuinely surprised at that, and he couldn’t blame her for that. 

“Taako actually offered to teach you, completely unprompted?” she asked and Angus nodded. 

“Yep, I thought it was a goof at first but he’s really a lot nicer than he makes everyone think he is. Don’t let him know I said that though, because when I told him that before he went on this rant about how he doesn’t care about anything and was only doing it because he was bored, and I’m sure he wasn’t being totally truthful about that but it still kinda hurt so I’d like to not hear it again,” he rambled. Maybe he shouldn’t be bothering the director with all of this, but she just seemed like someone you could talk to. Angus had heard some of the other bureau members say she was intimidating or standoffish, but he’d never had that impression of her. 

“No, I’m sure you’re right, Taako cares about you very much Angus. He’s just not good at showing it all of the time,” she said and Angus couldn’t stop the smile creeping onto his face. Before he could say anything though the oven timer beeped, signaling his macarons were done. 

“Oh! I’m sorry Madam Director I need to finish these and icing them before my magic lessons with Taako today,” he said, quickly grabbing some oven mitts he’d already pulled out. 

“Of course, I hope you enjoy your lesson,” she said, and by the time Angus had taken them out of the oven she’d already left the room. That wasn’t surprising though, the director was a very busy lady. She probably wouldn’t have been able to wait around for his cookies to cool to try any even if he asked. 

By the time he did finish them it was nearly time for his lesson, and so he carefully but quickly stuffed them into a little box and started off to the cafeteria. 

To say that lesson hadn’t gone the way he’d been expecting would be a bit of an understatement. 

Taako had been proud of the produce flame. Maybe? He was doing the thing where he said something really nice and then cut it off with something that was supposed to be mean or scary. And Angus was okay with that, even if it had spooked him a little. The director was right, he just wasn’t good at showing those kinds of things or didn’t want to for whatever reason. 

He wouldn’t say those nice things in the first place or insist on teaching him magic or smile when Angus did a spell right and he thought he wasn’t looking if he didn’t care. 

But then the macarons happened. He couldn’t believe he forgot sugar. He tried to play it off like how Taako would and make it seem like he’d done it so he’d teach him prestidigitation. 

Except instead of doing that, Taako completely obliterated the cookies. Angus must’ve pushed too far. He knew Taako was uncomfortable mixing food and magic and he might’ve been one of the only people to know that and he shouldn’t have pressed. 

What if Taako really _didn’t_ care about him now? 

He was barely able to finish that thought and mumble something about Taako not having to burn up all the macarons when Taako insists that wasn’t what he cast and the umbra staff kept going, blasting letters into the cafeteria wall. 

Taako didn’t know what was going on. Angus could tell that without even looking at him as he pulled out a notebook (he didn’t mean to blow up his cookies, it was just bad timing. Hopefully). 

“Sir, I appreciate the magic lessons, but it sounds like you’ve just given me an even better gift. A new mystery to solve,” Angus said excitedly, jotting the letters down in his notebook. Today didn’t seem like it was the best day for a magic lesson, this would be a much better thing to focus on. 

“Aw, fuck.”

\---

Taako didn’t know what the fuck was going on. 

His umbra staff just fucking rebelled, and sure it wasn’t the first time the thing acted kinda weird, but those other things made sense as a magical weapon. Sometimes its attacks were extra strong, or it came to his aid on its own during a fight, but those were things that could be explained with especially advanced enchantments. Probably. 

What the fuck could burning L U P into a wall mean? Why would the umbra staff even do that? 

“Hmm, maybe it’s an acronym for something?” 

Right, shit, boy detective was still there. He was standing right under the burned letters, jotting down things in some notebook. He didn’t seem upset about the cookies anymore, which was more of a relief than Taako would admit to anyone, even himself. 

“Yeah, maybe it’s ‘Let’s Upset People’ or ‘Look Under Pillows’ or ‘Lose Umbrastaff Pronto’” he mumbled. He was pretty fucking sure Angus actually wrote some of those down. Fucking dork. 

Taako didn’t like this. He didn’t know why but he fucking hated this all of a sudden. Looking at those letters made him feel nauseous and like his head was full of cotton, and he didn’t like Angus trying to figure it out and he didn’t like that he fucked up the cookies the kid had made for him, even if they’d been bland as shit. 

“Sir, do you think I could see your umbra staff for a moment?” 

Angus had apparently gotten bored of looking at the letters or got all he could from them or whatever, because he was standing in front of Taako again. Taako was pretty sure he hadn’t moved since the spell had gone off. He hadn't been paying attention to the time but he kinda felt like he'd been standing there doing nothing for a bit longer than was socially acceptable. Angus was holding out a hand like he was expecting him to hand over the staff, and instead of doing that Taako held it closer to him and well out of the kid’s reach. 

“No!” he practically shouted. He barely managed to keep himself from cursing out loud at the disappointed look that fell over Angus’s face. 

“Oh, that’s okay. I just wanted to, you know, see if there was anything I could figure out from it. For the mystery. But it’s alright, I understand,” he said in that dejected fucking voice again and Taako sighed. He was so fucking _bad_ at this. 

“No, no, it’s not… Not that I don’t trust you with it or anything kiddo, Pan knows you’d be more careful with it than half the chucklefucks on this moonbase. Umbra staff’s just tetchy is all, threw Merle across the room when we first found it, and it just went and did all,” he gestured over towards the letters without looking at them, _“that,_ so just ain’t sure if it’s safe is all,” he said. 

“Oh, I suppose that does make sense sir,” Angus said, sounding a bit less hurt with that explanation. “Do you think I could just look at it then? I promise I won’t touch it or anything,” he asked, and Taako sighed again, loosening his death grip on the umbrella the slightest bit. 

Kid. Gonna be the fuckin death of him. 

“Yeah, yeah alright, have at it,” he said, holding the staff out in front of him for Angus to inspect. The kid carefully looked it over, doing as he said though and not touching it as he took down notes Taako couldn’t see. 

“I know the umbra staff is a powerful arcane artifact, was there anything strange that Leon might’ve said about it?” Angus asked and Taako shrugged. 

“It eats fucking losers, that’s it though. It’s not supposed to play the shittiest game of scrabble imaginable,” he said. Angus nodded, and it’d been a while since Taako had seen the kid in detective mode. He’s forgotten how focused and dedicated he could get. 

“And it’s never done anything like this before? Nothing strange?” he asked, making a motion for Taako to flip the staff over, which he did. 

“Oh no my dude, it’s done plenty of strange shit. It likes to help me out in fights sometimes, doesn’t like when I leave it behind, threw Merle across the room but honestly we’ve all been there,” he said. When he looked back at Angus, the kid was no longer inspecting the umbra staff, instead staring all concerned at him. 

“But uh, like you said it’s a pretty powerful thingy, I figured it’s kinda enchanted to look out for whoever’s attuned to it or whatever,” he added quickly. Slowly Angus nodded, not looking completely satisfied with that answer. 

“I suppose that makes sense. I’m going to need some more time to look into this,” he said, and there was still something about this that Taako couldn’t articulate. Something about the letters burned into the wall that made his chest ache in the same way Angus wearing his hat had. He couldn’t get any further than that thought. He didn’t want to think any further than that. 

“Yeah, alright,” Taako said, wishing he didn’t sound so reluctant. He didn’t know what this was but he didn’t- 

He didn’t want Angus to get hurt. 

“Just be careful, okay Ango? We don’t know what it is we’re dealing with here,” he said. Angus looked genuinely surprised at that, before a smile crept across his face. 

“Of course sir, but you don’t need to worry about me. I am the world’s greatest detective after all, and that’s the thing with mysteries, you _never_ know what you’re dealing with,” he said. Taako rolled his eyes but he was goddamn smiling and that ruined the effect. 

“Did you get that from your nerd cop books?” he asked, Angus shaking his head. 

“No, that one was just- just off the dome,” he said and fuck it Taako laughed at that. Fucking hell this kid. 

“Of course it is. Fuck, with lines like that I don’t know why I was fucking worried,” he joked. 

“Because you care about me?” Angus said, and it sounded like a joke but Taako could hear the slight edge to his voice, like he was genuinely asking if he cared. Which. Taako had already said he didn’t. He should just fucking repeat himself and tell the kid to fuck off. 

“Don’t push your luck okay?” he said instead, messing with Angus’s hat and shifting it until his ears popped out from where they were hiding. He didn’t seem to notice though, laughing and trying to shove Taako’s hand away. 

It wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no either and Angus was way too smart of a kid not to realize that was an answer in and of itself. 

“Okay, okay,” Angus said once Taako finally stopped with his hat. “I guess I should go and start working on this new mystery.” He should let Angus go, but something in him didn’t want to let the kid out of his sights right now. Taako didn’t know why. Despite everything he didn’t actually feel like the umbra staff was _dangerous._ At least, not if he didn’t want it to be. 

“Hey now, I’m pretty sure I still owe you a prestidigitation,” he said. Angus looked uncertain and Taako wasn’t sure he could blame him after all of that. 

“Are you sure sir? I figured you wouldn’t be up to a magic lesson today,” he asked, and Taako shrugged, spinning the umbra staff around once. 

“Eh, it seems to be back to normal, shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. The sound of some people walking and talking down a nearby hallway reached them, and the two both quickly looked at the still kind of smoking letters in the wall. “But maybe we should find a new place for class? Cafeteria’s cool and all but it’s starting to get a little stale, ya know?” 

“Agreed. We should probably go right now. Because we’re both very busy people who have things to do after magic lessons, and for no other reasons,” Angus said, Taako nodding. The voices were getting closer and instead of waiting Taako grabbed Angus’s arm before rushing out of the cafeteria and in the opposite direction. 

Taako didn’t know what it was, maybe it was just after the unease of that fucking L U P burned into the wall. For some reason though sneaking off with Angus, the kid trying and failing to stifle his giggles behind him felt _right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on spacing out the updates a bit more evenly, but i had a rude awakening today and am annoyed so you all get a chapter early out of my frustration, congratulations! 
> 
> Very important, the last chapter got fanart and y'all need to look at [this](https://forestlingincorporated.tumblr.com/post/165566058028/i-couldnt-resist-this-scene-from-weevilo707s) and [this](http://themindofcc.tumblr.com/post/165605194690/what-do-you-think-sir-do-i-look-like-a-real) because they're perfect. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.


	10. Long Day

“Okay. So prestidigitation, this one actually has some variety so you have more options which is helpful, but it can be a bit harder to wrap your head around switching between things at first,” Taako explained. They’d ended up going back to his dorm after running from the cafeteria. It was easier than looking for a closed off space in the library or somewhere else on the base. Didn't seem like Merle or Magnus were around at the moment either, which was even better. “Let’s maybe stay away from food for now, just as a baseline.” 

Angus nodded, not seeming upset by the request or like he was judging Taako for it or anything. “Right, that’s fine sir. I’ve read about the other uses for prestidigitation as well, um, maybe I could light a candle? Or put one out, that seems like a simple enough thing to start with,” he suggested. 

“Yeah sure why not? You already got produce flame down by yourself, maybe you run more towards fire and evocation,” Taako said, standing up to grab some candles. Produce flame wasn’t evocation and neither was prestidigitation, but if Angus kept up this proficiency for fire he was gonna have to teach him some of the spells that were. Might be best not to practice those inside though, at least not after the whole cafeteria thing. 

Heading back towards the couch with like twelve candles bundled up in his arms Taako stopped at the sound of frantic knocking at the door. Groaning he turned back towards it, not bothering to put the candles down. 

“Merle for the last goddamn, I mean _pan_ damn time, the code is 4321,” he yelled as he threw open the door, one of the candles falling from his arms as he did. Except it wasn’t Merle at the door. Whoops. 

“Oh! Hello Madam Director, what brings you here?” Angus asked, having walked over from where he’d been sitting on the couch before. Taako didn’t bother looking down at him, frowning as he adjusted the bullshit in his arms and stared at the director. 

Something seemed really fucking off with her. 

“Angus, I didn’t realize you’d be here too,” she said, and yeah, there was a weird tinge of panic in her voice. She still looked almost as composed and powerful as she normally did, but Taako knew someone putting on an act when he saw one. He just couldn't pinpoint exactly what the problem was. 

“I told you I had magic lessons with Taako today. Remember, when I was making the macarons?” he said. 

“Oh yes, of course,” she said, sounding like she’d only just remembered that, and Taako could tell she had something important to talk about. Something he felt he didn’t want to hear, since that was how these things tended to go. 

“Come on kid, don’t tell me you’ve gone and told every person in the bureau about my rad teaching skills. I know it’s pretty incredible to get lessons from the one, the only, Taako, but I do got a reputation to maintain here,” he said, placing one of the candles on Angus’s hat. When he reached up and took it off he put another one on. His arms were getting tired and he wanted to see how many he could get Angus to hold for him. 

“I mean, I’ve told a few people? I guess,” he said sheepishly, which absolutely meant he told everyone who would listen. Angus had four of the candles now, including the one Taako had dropped earlier. 

“Excuse me,” the Director said, and Taako looked over at her like he’d forgotten she was there as he place another candle. 

“Sup homedog? Got a relic for us to go grab? You don’t usually come down here yourself for that,” he said, and he had a feeling it wasn’t a relic. Angus would’ve had some idea if they were getting close to finding one, especially so soon after the philosopher’s stone. 

“No, it’s not a relic,” called it. “I just-” a sigh, and Taako wasn’t too sure where this was going at all, “have either of you been down in the cafeteria today?” Oooh. That. Well shit, he didn't think the director herself would be making a personal call over that. 

“I mean, I’ve been a lot of places, and like elves don’t sleep and we’re on the freaking moon, so you’re gonna have to be more specific when you say ‘today,’” Taako bullshitted. 

“Yes,” Angus said at almost the exact same time, his voice already guilty. 

“Ango, could you be cool for like, two seconds?” Taako asked, exasperation clear in his voice, and he couldn’t even cross his arms to look more annoyed because he was still holding six candles. Angus had the other half and Taako was pretty sure if he tried to give him any more they’d start to drop. 

“But we can’t lie to the director! And besides, you sleep _all the time,_ so that doesn’t even work,” Angus argued. 

“Not important,” Taako said, and when he glanced back over at the director he expected her to be annoyed like how she usually was when they fucked around too much. She didn’t look annoyed though. 

She just looked really fucking sad. 

“Look, no one is in trouble here, but I need to know. What happened?” she asked, sounding even more serious than she did when talking about the relics. Taako turned around as he started to speak, using putting the candles down on the counter as an excuse. 

“Yeah alright, I kinda had a fucking seizure I guess and blasted some letters into the wall. I’ll magic it back for you though, no biggie,” he said. Angus was giving him a look now, but thankfully he didn’t say anything this time. The director wasn’t looking at the kid when he turned back around either, staring solely at him. 

“You…” it was weird, he wasn’t used to seeing the director lose her words like this. “What caused it?” she asked, and Taako shrugged. 

“Fuck if I know, was teaching Ango here prestidigitation and next thing I know I’m blanking out and blasting nonsense words with scorching ray,” he said. He expected her to have a lot of fucking questions for that explanation, but she just sighed and nodded. 

“That’s all you remember? There’s nothing else?” she asked, and she sounded so worn down. Taako wouldn’t go so far to say he gave a shit, but he could definitely say she needed a fucking vacation. He didn't say that though, he didn't want to tempt this conversation into lasting any longer than it had to. 

“Yeah, that’s it,” he said. If his grip on the umbra staff had been extra tight since this conversation began, it didn’t seem like anyone noticed it. 

“Alright, carry on then,” she said, turning to leave. God this was all so fucking weird, he didn’t know what was going on. “And don’t worry about cleaning it up, it’s already been taken care of,” she added before closing the door behind her. It was quiet for a few moments before Angus turned swiftly towards him. 

“Why did you _do_ that sir?” he asked. Taako sighed loudly, grabbing up the candles again and walking back over to the living room, setting them down on the coffee table before slumping on the couch. 

“Don’t know what you’re talking about my dude,” he said casually. Angus followed in a huff behind him, putting his candles down much more carefully than Taako had despite this. 

“Why did you lie to the director? You said before it wasn’t you who cast that spell, the umbra staff did it on its own,” he said. Damn it, would’ve been a lot easier if Mr. Goody Two Shoes hadn’t been around. Or if he was less perceptive, but good fucking luck on that. Taako guessed he was just lucky he hadn’t brought that up in front of the director. 

“Listen, you remember what the bureau’s whole deal is?” he asked, Angus instantly nodding. 

“Protecting the world by keeping information that people shouldn’t know locked away and finding and destroying powerful magic artifacts known as the grand relics,” he recited. 

“Okay. Okay, you’re not wrong, that one’s on me I should’ve been more specific,” he said. “I meant with magic items, the whole fantasy gashapon and the way we handle those?” 

“Oh, well magic items can be necessary, especially in our line of work, but ones that are too powerful can become too dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands and are better off not existing in the first place,” Angus said. Good god this kid was like a fucking employee handbook sometimes. He probably actually _read_ the employee handbook. 

“Exactly, and the umbra staff is a really powerful magic item. If people knew it went off and did shit on its own and set off spells wrong sometimes then they might decide it’s in that ‘better off not existing in the first place’ category,” Taako explained. Angus actually seemed to think that over for a moment, clearly weighing the pros and cons of his argument. 

“But sir, what if they’re right?” he asked, and that was about where Taako expected his mind to go. 

“But it’s _mine,”_ he argued, pretty much whining and he knew that definitely wasn’t enough to convince the kid. “And it’s not, I mean sure it’s weird and acts up sometimes and I got it from a skeleton in a red robe, but like, two out of three of those things can also apply to Magnus,” he said. Angus had shot up at that though. 

“You got it from a _red robe?”_ he asked, whispering the last part like saying the name too loud would fucking summon one, and wait fuck Taako wasn’t supposed to say that. Good god he needed to stop letting his guard down around this kid. 

“I mean, a really dead one,” he said. The red robe from the lab hadn’t been happy to hear that. He pushed that particular confrontation from his mind before he could think too hard on it. 

“Sir, you don’t think it’s a…” he trailed off, looking at the umbra staff fearfully, but Taako knew what he meant and was shaking his head. 

“Nah, it’s not one. It doesn’t have that whole thrall things like the others do, and it doesn’t talk,” he explained. Angus raised an eyebrow at that. 

“Wait, they talk?” 

“Well yeah, I told you about how the Oculus tried and get me to take it,” Taako said and Angus looked a little sheepish at that. 

“I thought that had been a goof,” he admitted. 

“Nope, they sound fucking stupid too,” Taako told him, and he could tell Angus was still thinking it all over. 

“Well sir, you would know better than anyone if something’s a relic. Plus, it doesn’t feel like seeing the philosopher’s stone did,” he said finally and Taako had to keep himself from visibly breathing a sigh of relief. He hadn’t been looking forward to the idea of getting into an argument with anyone about whether or not he could keep the umbra staff. He didn't care what anyone said and he wasn't even sure why, but there was no fucking way he was getting rid of the thing. 

“Cool beans, and if anything else super weird goes down you’ll be the first to know,” Taako told him. 

“Thanks sir, I still think we should tell someone eventually, but I trust you,” Angus said. He said it so easily, like trusting Taako wasn’t a thing he had to think about for a moment. 

Taako had no fucking idea how to handle that. 

“Mhmm, alright then. Well with all of that out of the way can we _finally_ get back to prestidigitation?” he asked, Angus quickly nodding. 

“Oh yes of course!” Angus said, grabbing his wand up again and seeming intent to listen to Taako’s lesson. So he started showing him through the motions of lighting the candles with prestidigitation, and after a few attempts at getting the wicks to smoke he managed to get a good little flame going. 

“Nice one Ango. I’m fucking starving, try and get another one going and I’ll make us some sandwiches okay,” he said, standing up. Angus nodded, frowning slightly. 

“Alright sir, but I thought you said you don’t cook for people you care about,” he said, speaking cautiously. Taako sighed, heading towards the little kitchenette and getting out some lunch meat and cheese. 

“Angus, my dude, you’re like six-”

“I’m ten sir.”

“-so I’m not gonna hold this against you, but making a sandwich is not cooking. Even if you grill it, still not cooking, you’re just putting some heat on a shitty assortment of edible products. Cooking does not apply to what I am about to do,” he said, speaking as seriously as possible. Angus seemed pretty relieved though, smiling with amusement. 

“Alright sir, whatever you say,” Angus said, going back to attempting to light another candle. 

“Damn right.” 

\---

Angus tried to fight back a yawn as he attempted to put one of the candles he’d lit out with prestidigitation. He and Taako had finished eating a while ago, and it was getting late but Angus wanted to get this before he left. He picked up lighting them fast enough, he didn't get why this was stumping him. When he tried to cast the spell again, there was a moment’s hesitation before one of the candles did go out. 

Of course, he’d seen Taako leaning forward and trying to be subtle at blowing out the candles. He definitely failed at the whole subtle part. 

“Hey look at that, you did it. Success all around time to hit the showers,” Taako said, a fake excitement to his voice as he clapped at Angus's 'success.' Angus rolled his eyes, pausing in his attempt to cast the spell again and crossing his arms. 

“I saw you blow that one out sir,” he said, but Taako just leaned back and folded his arms up behind his head. 

“Ain’t got any idea what you’re talking about bubula,” he said casually. Angus didn’t say anything, going back to trying to cast the spell again and Taako sighed. “Ango, you’re passing out with your eyes open and I am _not_ carrying you back to your room. Fuck, it’s been a long day, we can try the other prestidigi-shit tomorrow.” 

Angus was about to argue that he almost had it, but instead of words a yawn escaped him and his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I guess I did get up early to make you cookies and then all the stuff with the umbra staff happened,” he said reluctantly. Taako sat up some at that, his eyebrows rising in surprise. 

“Wait, shit you woke up _early?_ What the fuck, I got up at a reasonable time and I’m done-zo, and I’m don’t need to sleep,” he said. Before Angus could do anything he felt a hand on the back of his shirt and pull him up off of the couch and out of line of sight with the candles. 

“You do sleep though,” he said once he was deposited onto the ground again. “A lot, probably more than people who actually need it do,” he added, and even though Taako was frowning at him he got the impression that he wasn't really annoyed. 

“Once again, not at all the point here pumpkin,” he said before leaning back again with a huff. The brim of his hat hit the wall behind him and knocked it off of his head slightly. Taako ignored the sleepy giggling Angus had at that, taking his hat off entirely. “We’re adding homework to these lessons now, and that homework is sleep because that’s the first thing I told you kid. You can’t keep forgetting this,” Taako added before putting the rest of the candles out with a flick of his umbra staff. 

“I’m fine sir really, but I guess you’re right, it has been a very long day. We should both get some rest,” Angus reluctantly agreed. He’d been trying to ignore how tired he was but now that Taako had put a focus on it he was feeling close to falling asleep where he stood. He forgot sometimes but he was just a little boy. 

“Of course I’m right. Now go sleep, I’m not having an apprentice who runs out of spell slots or screws up his casting because he doesn’t get enough fucking shut eye,” he said, and Angus was so tired he almost didn’t catch that. When he did process it he couldn’t help but perk up some. 

“Wait, am I really your apprentice?” he asked, trying not to get too hopeful. From the surprised look that briefly flashed over Taako’s face, he hadn’t realized what he said for a moment either. 

“I mean, I’m teaching you shit and that’s pretty much all there is to an apprentice, right?” he said, before taking a breath and seeming to come to some sort of decision. “Okay, listen. You can officially be my apprentice if you fuck off right now and go get some sleep.” Angus didn’t even try to stop the large smile that spread across his face at that, starting to gather up his belongings. 

“Of course sir, whatever you say,” he said as he started towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow! I love you!” he added happily, and it wasn’t the first time he’d said that to any of the reclaimers. He didn’t expect it to be returned, so Taako’s ‘everyone does’ as he left the dorm didn’t bother him. 

He knew Taako wasn’t good at this stuff, and he’d done a lot of things today that said he cared in his own way. Taako was a hard language to learn, but he was pretty sure he was starting to decode it. 

Angus really was exhausted though, and he didn’t waste any time getting back to his own room. When he got there he put his stuff down with a little less care than he normally would before crawling into bed. His books would be fine on the floor for a night, and he made sure to put his wand in its spot on the bedside table, that was the most important thing. He didn’t even bother to get changed into pajamas, he’d just rest for a moment first. 

He wanted to spend some time before he slept to think about everything that had happened. He wanted to think about the new mystery with the umbra staff and how that might be related to the red robes and he wanted to think about how to get prestidigitation right and the fact that Taako actually considered him his apprentice. 

He wasn’t able to though, because he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self restraint is a very hard thing, but i am trying not to post these chapters too close together. I'm not sure why i'm even trying to pretend I can manage some sort of posting schedule besides 'random bursts of activity followed by long stretches of silence' but oh well. 
> 
> Lucretia is very, very tired. So is angus, he's been up much longer than a little boy should. 
> 
> Also they chose that passcode specifically so merle would remember it. he still forgets. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	11. Unanswered Questions

After leaving the boy’s dorm Lucretia headed back to her, chambers. Her private chambers, back with the baby voidfish and locked herself inside. It was safe, no one had managed to break in, and Taako didn’t remember. 

Taako didn’t- 

Lucretia let herself slump to the floor, taking a few ragged breaths as she tried to control herself. She couldn’t tell if it was relief or disappointment rushing through her. Relief, it had to be relief. Everything would be ruined if any of them remembered, and they were getting so close. Just a little bit longer, she only had to last a little bit longer. 

She just needed a moment right now. Just a few breaths before she could get herself focused on the mission again. The panic that’d run through her at the sight of the familiar name blasted into the wall had been indescribable, a physical pain in her chest. She thought for a moment that she'd had an actual heart attack and she still couldn't be too certain she was wrong. As soon as she could think again she had caste a mending spell before running to their dorm. The only thing that had been running through her head was that Taako had remembered. Somehow he remembered and left Lup’s name as a message and he was _gone._

Except he wasn’t. He was still there and acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. He was still how Lucretia had gotten used to him being (which was so different than how she remembered him) and he'd been spending the day with Angus and- 

Gods, seeing them together _hurt._

It had seemed perfect, like it was fate when she heard about the boy detective they’d met on the train. It’d been a few years since she’d checked in on Angus, and honestly her watch on all of them had waned while she worked to set up the bureau. There was so much to do, she didn’t have enough time. 

But they had found him, right as the man who she’d entrusted him with’s life was fading. And he was _so smart,_ it was impossible not to see his parents in him. She’d thought it would’ve been difficult, finding an excuse to bring a child up to the base, but she hadn’t even needed to worry. It became apparent that even with the voidfish’s block, this child was somehow working around it to get a bead on their organization. 

Someone with that much talent, it only made sense to hire them as a seeker, no matter their age. 

It has seemed so good, it _was_ good. She knew it was what they deserved, to have their family back together. Taako especially deserved it, she’d taken so much from him. Seeing him beginning to open up to Angus was such a relief, even with the pain it caused. They should’ve been together this whole time, but they just couldn’t be. 

So, having them all back was a wonderful thing, as much as she had to hide it, and as deep a cut it gave her at none of them remembering. Angus’s presence only highlighted Barry’s and Lup’s absence even more, she could see his parents in him so easily. She wanted to tell him how proud they would be, how much they would have loved him. But she couldn't and there was nothing she could do about the glaring absences only she could see. 

There wasn’t anything she could do about Taako being blissfully unaware of it all. 

Or at least, she’d _thought_ he’d been unaware. He should have been. She’d had to erase _so much._

She went over again what Taako had said. Blacked out, blasted some letters he didn’t understand into the wall while teaching Angus. She’d been so happy when she first heard they were getting closer. It was what they deserved, they were the only family they had left, whether they realized it or not. 

The guarded, closed off Taako she’d brought into the bureau was opening up to Angus, and he was teaching him magic even. Lucretia couldn’t imagine Lup would have wanted anything else. 

But something had happened, and she had no idea what. Was there a reminder too strong for the voidfish to fully cover? Had she not erased enough? She’d gotten rid of so much, she couldn’t stand the idea of having to take more. She couldn’t risk someone else ending up like Davenport. 

She didn’t need to though. Taako didn’t remember what happened, had written it off as a seizure and didn’t see any significance in the name. 

It felt like a stab in the chest, but she told herself this pain would be worth it. 

For now though, she needed to do something. There was no way they could remember, but that was too close a call. She couldn’t erase anything else though. It was already too much. 

The idea of separating them was pushed almost immediately from her mind. It’d been nearly impossible to do it the once, and that was back when neither of them had any idea what was going on. Even if it was possibly stirring memories, it was too good for them for her to take away. 

But, she supposed it might be best to let them have just a bit less free time. 

Picking herself up off of the floor, Lucretia took one last deep breath to ground herself again. She’d send them on a run down to the planet tomorrow, all three of the boys. Maybe add a few more hours of training in the week as well. Nothing over the top, she didn’t want to work them ragged before she needed to. 

She still wanted Taako and Angus to be able to become a family again. This was just a small safety precaution to put her own mind at ease. 

It would be alright, they were nearly at the end now. 

She wondered how much they’d hate her once they reached that point, but that didn’t matter. 

This was what she had to do, and however they felt about her at the end would be justified. 

\---

When Angus woke up the next morning he could tell it was much later than he normally rose. One of the reasons he could tell this was a general awareness of his surroundings and the way the light filtered into his room. 

The other reason was because he could hear Taako’s voice coming in over his stone of farspeech, and there was no way it was any earlier than 11 am if he was up. 

“Ango? My dude where you at? Come on I thought you were one of those obnoxious people who got up before noon,” he complained as Angus stretched off the side of his bed to pick up the stone of farspeech lying on the floor. 

“I’m awake sir, I’m-” his words were cut off by a yawn. “What time is it?” he asked, rubbing at his eyes and trying to wake up. 

“Fuck if I know. Isn’t important. _Listen,_ we’re doing a run down to the surface today so cha boy ain’t gonna have time for magic lessons,” Taako said, and that woke Angus the rest of the way up. 

“Oh, that’s alright sir. Why are you leaving the base?” he asked, trying to hide the slight disappointment in his voice. Work for the bureau was more important, they'd have time for his lessons later. 

“Dunno, I think Magnus was getting antsy so the director thought of some bullshit reason to get us out of her hair. That or it’s punishment for blasting the cafeteria yesterday, either-or,” Taako said, and Angus supposed that made sense. 

“Okay then, thanks for letting me know beforehand,” he said, and he was actually kind of surprised that Taako remembered to tell him. It would’ve been really disappointing to have looked for him later only to find out he wasn’t on the base. 

“Eh, didn’t have anything better to do while I wait for this goddamn busy work to start,” Taako said, and ‘not having anything better to do’ seemed to be his excuse for a lot of things. “Besides I was thinking and we probably don’t need to be doing magic lessons every day anyway. I mean I’m a pretty busy guy and like, you’re a ten year old but you’ve got a job or something? Either way once we get into spell slots you probably shouldn’t be burning through all of em every day anyway,” he added. Angus nodded even though Taako couldn’t see him, and he tried not to feel too disappointed because he was making sense. 

“Right, you’re right sir. Every day would be hard to do once we get another lead on a relic,” he said. “I’m still your apprentice though, right? We’re not stopping the magic lessons?” Angus asked, worried despite himself. He didn’t _think_ Taako would stop their lessons like that, he seemed to be enjoying them at least a little bit too, but he couldn’t be certain. 

“Hells yeah my man, don’t even freak,” Taako said easily, like stopping wasn’t a thing he’d even considered. Angus couldn’t help the small relieved smile that crept across his face at the reassurance. “Now I don’t know, go do whatever it is kids do. Or like, solve a mystery or something I guess, figure out what’s wrong with my umbrella,” he added and Angus perked up again. 

“Oh yes! I almost forgot I wanted to look into that more today, thank you sir,” he said, starting to untangle himself from the blankets he was still wrapped up in. 

“Mhmm, sure, anyway peace,” Taako’s voice said, the stone cutting out before Angus could get out a ‘goodbye sir!’ all the way. Well, he was sure Taako knew what he was saying. Getting out of bed, Angus changed out of the clothes he’d accidentally fallen asleep in last night and into some fresh ones. Sparing a quick glance at the clock, it was only just past noon, which was still quite a bit later than he normally slept in, but he guessed yesterday had taken more out of him than he thought. 

Once he was ready for the day Angus headed down to the cafeteria. He was a little nervous about going back there, but he needed to grab something to eat before he started fully looking into this new mystery . 

He guessed there wasn’t any reason to be worried though, because when he got down there what the director said before was true. The letters Taako shot into the wall were gone, and there was barely any trace that they’d been there at all. 

Breakfast wasn’t being served anymore, so Angus grabbed a quick fantasy wrap before heading over to the library. He didn’t know where to start with L U P, but he could have a direction with the umbra staff. 

Okay, magic items, secret orders of wizards, umbra wizards, and red robes. Those were all the broad categories that could relate to it. Angus started looking for any books on those subjects. He’d already thoroughly searched the library for anything on red robes and found a frustrating lack of information, so he figured it was best to stick with the other topics for now. 

It didn’t take him too long to find something on the Umbra Wizards, although it didn’t tell him nearly as much as he would have liked. It was pretty much a wordier description of what Leon had said about them, a powerful sect of wizards that concealed their wands as everyday items and imbued them with the power to absorb other magical artifacts.

It was certainly interesting, and Angus loved the idea of a conceal wand. That was one of the reasons he liked his mini-crossbow so much, and as reductive as it could be sometimes, his age _did_ help catch a lot of people off guard. It was fun to use people’s expectations against them, and it definitely helped when he was on cases. The only annoying part was when people refused to change their opinions after making those assumptions. 

Still, as cool as Angus found it, none of that helped with his current mystery. There weren’t any records of anyone confirmed to be one of these wizards, which considering their love of secrecy and concealment made sense, as frustrating as it was. 

It did make it seem all the more likely that one of the red robes had been a part of this order though. The umbra wizards themselves weren't evil as far as Angus could tell, but it did seem like the kind of thing an all powerful weapon creating wizard would be a part of. 

So that was where the umbra staff most likely came from, but what was L U P? There wasn’t any sign of what it was or even an inkling of something it _could_ be. There weren’t any instances that Angus could find of one of these items acting on its own like Taako had described either. 

Of course, if it was once the wand of a red robe, even if it wasn’t grand relic levels of powerful it made sense that it could be a special case. 

But that _still_ left Angus was a frustrating lack of leads. 

Closing his current book in a small huff Angus let his head drop to the table. It wasn’t often that he was left stumped like this, but it did happen sometimes. A trail was just too cold or he didn’t have enough direction to go off of until some sort of break came. It was always so annoying when that happened though, because no one could be sure that a break _would_ come. Some things were just lost to time. 

Or to the void fish, but at least Angus didn’t have to worry about that one anymore. 

Skimming through a few more books that proved to be as fruitless as Angus expected them to be he finally wrote anything here as a dead end. It was too specific a topic to find anything useful. Maybe he would have a better chance checking out some libraries or old records down on the surface. 

Checking the clock, Angus was surprised at how late it had gotten. He supposed he did get a later start than usual, and it wasn’t unlike him to get too into the mystery and forget how long it’d been since he last ate or things like that. Grabbing the few books that had been the slightest bit helpful, Angus put everything else back before heading down to grab something for dinner. It was late enough that he’d missed the last rush and was able to get something quick before heading back to his room. 

The next day Taako was busy again, although he promised that they’d have magic lessons tomorrow for sure. Angus took the day to practice prestidigitation again, since he’d spent all his time on the mystery before. He was still disappointed in how little he’d managed to progress with that. When he tried to think of what libraries or records would hold the information he needed, he came up with very few. There had to be somewhere he could look to find some sort of break linked directly with the umbra staff. 

An idea finally came to him as he was heading towards Taako’s dorm the next day for their magic lessons. 

“Good day sir! I practiced all day yesterday and I think I’ve got lighting candles down. Putting them out is still touch and go but I think I’m improving,” he said as he walked in. Taako nodded, and it was hard to outright see if he was proud of Angus’s progress or not, but he liked to think he was. 

“Yeah, like I said it’s tricky, because it’s the same spell so all you gotta change when casting it is the _feeling,_ ya know?” Taako said. Angus sat down to listen to the lesson, trying to understand what Taako meant by that and how to actually channel it into his spell. It was slow, but after a bit he could start switching between lighting the candles and putting them out more reliably. Taako insisted he was a fast learner, even if it didn’t feel that way. 

“Sir, could I ask you something?” Angus said as they started to wind down. He’d been waiting for a moment to ask, and he figured now was as good a time as any. 

“Shoot,” Taako said breezily, lighting another candle for Angus to put out. 

“Could you take me to where you found the umbra staff?” he asked before taking a breath and casting the spell, smiling when the little flame flickered out. Taako didn’t say anything for a moment, and when Angus looked over at him he was frowning. 

“Wavy cave? Why do you wanna go there?” he asked. Angus wasn’t sure what he meant for a moment. 

“Wave echo cave? Where you found the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet?” he asked, ignoring Taako’s second question for the moment. He’d get to it. 

“Yeah whatever it’s called, The Final Resting Place of Magic Brian, the name doesn’t matter. You didn’t answer my question,” he said.

“Well, you asked me to try and figure out what’s going on with your wand, and I wasn’t able to find anything in the library, so I thought maybe going where you found it would be helpful,” he explained. Taako still didn’t look too thrilled by the idea. 

“There’s not really anything left there though, the skeleton I picked it up off of like, disintegrated,” he said. That was a little disappointing to hear, but it didn’t deter Angus any. 

“You can tell a lot from a place even without a body, and you can explain to me how it was set up and everything anyway. Please? I don’t have any other leads,” he said, definitely not too proud to start begging if he needed to. Taako huffed and crossed his arms, not looking happy with the idea at all. 

“Why do _I_ gotta take you?” he asked, pretty much pouting and Angus had actually been prepared for that one. 

“Well, you said yourself that you didn’t want anyone to know about the way your umbra staff has been acting strange. I _could_ ask someone else to take me if you want, but they’ll probably want to know why I wanna go down there,” he explained innocently. Taako groaned, lying back with his head over the armrest of the couch. There was a soft thump as his hat fell off and hit the ground. 

“Ugh, fine. Next time I’m free I’ll take you down to the stupid cave, but you owe me,” he said and Angus jumped up in excitement. 

“Thank you, thank you! I’m sure this’ll help with the mystery, I promise,” he said, and he could see Taako rolling his eyes, but it didn’t bother him any. Taako wouldn’t agree to something if he really didn’t want to do it. 

“Yeah sure whatever, just make sure to keep this on the down low,” he said and Angus nodded. He should probably be bothered by keeping something like this a secret from the bureau, but a part of him couldn’t help but be excited despite that. 

Taako trusted him with this, and he wasn’t going to let him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, no Taako section this chapter, but we get a lucretia and the next chapter is gonna be all taako, so I figure that makes up for it. It's a shame we never got to see lucretia's reaction to LUP in canon, i'm sure it was pure barely restrained panic. I actually don't have much to say here, because I'm updating at a consistent pace and therefore don't have months of thoughts just backed up in my brain. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	12. Mysteries

In the end, Taako had managed to stave off Angus’s request to head planet side for a little over a week. Not a record he was particularly proud of, but it wasn’t like anyone was supposed to know about this anyway, so it didn’t matter. Besides, the kid was really fucking persistent. A week was actually pretty damn good in that regard. 

The first couple of days hadn’t been too hard, the Director was still giving them a couple meaningless missions every now and then, and those took up some time. Going down to the cave would have to be a full day thing after all, so if he had plans then it was a no go. Every time they met up to practice magic though Angus would bring it up at least once. Taako told the kid to chill, he’d get him down to the weird water cave when he got a chance. He mostly meant it too. Still, his plan was to put it off as much as he could. 

And then today rolled around, and Taako had absolutely nothing to do. So when Angus called him over his stone of farspeech to ask if they were having a lesson today or not, he decided it was best to give into it already. He could’ve kept pushing it off, but that meant having the kid continue to bother him about it, and he figured the better option would be to get it over with as soon as possible. 

“Yeah sure, bring your wand and whatever other nerd things you might need and meet me in the hangers in like an hour,” Taako told him. He didn't bother to explain that it wasn't a magic lesson. Kid was smart, he'd catch on. 

“The hangers? Why would we-” Taako swore he could hear the moment what he meant clicked into place in Angus's head. “Wait, are we going down today? Really?” he asked, excitement brimming in his voice and ugh, Taako was gonna have to deal with that all day, wasn’t he? He was already regretting this. 

“Yeah, yeah, but remember, down low,” he said. Angus assured him they he remembered before saying he needed to get ready and he’d meet him at the hangers. He was pretty sure that was the first time Angus had hung up on him and not the other way around. Taako himself didn’t need much, and he sat around killing time before heading down towards the canons. When he got there Angus was waiting outside the doors for him, and Taako wasn’t actually late this time. He figured the kid was just that excited and got there early. 

Damn, and Taako thought he got jived by magic, but apparently mysteries were a whole different ball game. 

Walking in Avi thankfully wasn’t out for lunch or anything. He did seem surprised to see them though, which was fair. Taako didn’t exactly leave the base for any reason beyond official missions often. 

“Hey you two, what’s up?” he asked, not sounding suspicious at all, just curious. That was good, Taako didn't do well with suspicious. It usually ended with him casting charm on someone. 

“Avi my man, think you could set us down near Phandalin?” Taako asked casually. Angus was bouncing in excitement at his side, but he wasn’t saying anything yet, letting Taako handle this. Avi looked a little confused at that, but nodded, starting whatever process it was that actually set off those things. He never actually paid much attention to it, machines weren't his thing.

“Sure thing. Why are you heading down there?” he asked. Taako leaned against Angus, using the kid as an elbow rest. Angus tried to push him off but failed. 

“Teaching the boy wonder here some evocation spells and figured if they don’t exactly go all that well that is the one place we literally couldn’t fuck up any more than we already have,” Taako explained easily. He’d like to say he thought of that one on the spot, but he actually had that line planned for a couple of days now. 

It wasn't like he'd been planning for this. It was just always good to have an excuse or two or six as backup. 

“Oh. Yeah, no that’s fair,” Avi said, finishing positioning the canon and opening the door for them. “Well, have fun I guess. Don’t blow yourselves up?” he added as they got inside. 

“Thank you sir! We will, or won’t. Will definitely have fun, probably most likely won’t blow ourselves up,” Angus said, strapping himself in. Taako followed suit, although at a much chiller pace. Avi looked the slightest bit concerned, but nodded and closed the bubble door none the less. 

Once it was shut, there was only a few seconds before they were being blasted off of the moon base, and Taako instantly put a hand on the break. Phandalin wasn’t a far shoot, so he almost immediately had to pull it to slow their decent. 

Angus was out of his seat as soon as they landed as far as Taako could tell. Goddamn the kid sure was excited, hopefully he’d stick close once they were actually in the cave. It hadn’t been the safest place last time they were there, and even with the gauntlet gone there was probably still some nasty stuff if they didn’t watch their step. Although they had cleared it out for the most part too, so maybe not. 

“We’re here! Taako, do you remember how far it is to the cave?” he asked, already starting to look around the area. By the time Taako got out of the bubble and let it recede back up to the base Angus had stopped running around. In fact, the smile that had been plastered to his face the entire time so far was gone, and he was staring at something and oh. 

“Oh,” Angus echoed his own thought. “So, that’s what a grand relic can do,” he said, looking over the vast field of black glass a short distance away from them.

“Yeah, they can be pretty nasty,” Taako said, suddenly ready to get a move on towards the cave. It wasn’t the most comfortable feeling, being back here. It wasn't like there was anything they could've done to prevent it though. 

“And you were all here when it happened?” Angus asked, something almost like awe in his voice. Not quite awe though, it was tinged with something else. Fear? 

“Yep, definitely a closer call than was strictly comfortable.” 

“You could have _died,”_ Angus said, and he sounded terrified by the idea. Taako guessed it was kinda scary, but there were lots of times he could have died. He didn’t exactly ruminate on them. He didn’t see why what _could have_ happened would freak the kid out. 

“Well yeah, but luckily for the world we didn’t. You wouldn’t of ever met us if we did anyway so like, major loss for you there, but you wouldn’t have known it so not a big deal,” Taako said, not sure if that was reassuring or not. From the way Angus’s shoulders slumped at the idea and his eyes shone ever so slightly behind his glasses, it was not. Fuck no, crying kids were not his forte. He hadn't signed up for this shit in the slightest. 

“Yeah, I guess so,” he mumbled. Okay, Taako needed to fucking distract from this shit or something before actual real tears happened. 

“Okay, enough about that, that’s not why we’re here and we don’t got a whole lot of time. Luckily for you though, we’re still way too far away from the cave to be able to walk and get back before someone notices something’s up,” Taako said. This time when Angus frowned, it was one of confusion. 

“How exactly is that lucky sir?” he asked, and Taako didn’t bother trying to stop the smile that crept across his face this time. 

“Because that means that I gotta cast the coolest spell ever,” he said. Angus still looked confused, but instead of explaining anymore, Taako went and cast phantom steed with more flourish than was strictly necessary. As he’d expected, the down expression Angus still had was replaced with one of amusement. “We get to take Garyl,” Taako said proudly. 

“Oh! I've heard of this spell! You cast that when you were doing a wagon race for the gaia sash, right?” Angus said, and he was definitely smiling again. Some of it was forced, but it was good enough. Taako told himself the relief was just because that meant he didn’t have to deal with any crying. 

“Yooo,” Garyl said in his perfect voice. “Hey kid, you got an oaaats?” he asked, and Angus fucking giggled. Okay, cheering up kids wasn’t actually that hard after all, all he had to do was burn a third level spell. That wasn’t even a big deal for him anymore. 

“Sorry Garyl, I’ll make sure to bring you some oats next time,” Angus said. 

“Cool cool, hey, we going anywhere?” Garyl asked, and at that Taako jumped up onto his back. 

“Hell yeah we are,” he said. It wasn’t too hard to reach over and pull Angus up as well, setting the kid down in front of him where he’d have the least chance to fall off. Once they were both settled Taako started Garyl off in the direction he remembered the cave being. He could hear Angus laughing as they sped along, the kid keeping one hand wound up in Garyl’s beautiful mane, the other on his hat to keep it from flying off. 

Taako was suddenly glad he was behind him, because he didn’t want anyone to see the smile he couldn’t fucking get off of his face. He’d blame it on Garyl, because Garyl was fucking perfect. No one could not smile around him. 

They managed to get to the cave entrance before the phantom steed spell ended, which was cool because if they didn’t Taako was just gonna call the whole thing off. As they got off the magnificent binicorn Angus seemed to be over whatever had been bothering him earlier. 

“This is it?” he asked, petting Garyl a few times before the spell finally faded. 

“Yeaaah, probably at least, looks familiar,” Taako said. There were some scorch marks on the ground, which he figured were from Gundren’s whole deal. Most likely definitely the right cave in that case. Not wasting any more time, Taako started into the cave, Angus instantly trotting after him. 

“So, cha boy’s pretty sure there was some nasty slime things in here and stuff before. Shouldn’t be an issue for me because I’m fucking incredible, but you should probably stick close, since you don’t got any sort of protection,” he said, trying to remember the fastest path down to the vault. He hadn’t been paying the most attention before, he didn’t think he’d ever have to come down here again.

“You mean protection like this?” Angus asked, and when Taako looked down he had that mini crossbow in his hands and way too smug a smile on his face. 

“Alright never mind then, go wander around as you see fit,” Taako mumbled. Angus didn’t actually do that thankfully, keeping close to his side throughout most of the journey down. It wasn’t as hard to get to the vault as Taako had thought it would be. Angus had noticed the scorch marks almost immediately and seemed to have the same idea to follow them as Taako had. That became less necessary as they got closer and he actually started to remember the path. 

At that point, it wasn’t long before they walked into the large empty chamber where Taako had originally found the red robe and the umbrella. The doors to the vault were still left open, although the only thing inside there now was smooth black glass. The whole area felt unnaturally still and unnerving. 

“Well, this is it. I think the skeleton was over here?” Taako said, walking over to the wall where he remembered it being. Angus followed after him, having gotten a fucking notebook out at some point. The kid inspected the area he was designating, although Taako had no fucking idea what he could possibly get out of it. 

“How was the red robe when you found them?” Angus asked, leaning close to the floor and scraping up some dark smudge Taako hadn’t noticed in the low light, even with his dark vision. 

“Uh, dead? He-” the other red robe had said it was a her, “I mean, she was kinda laying up against the wall. Looked like she was just chilling when she kicked it,” Taako said with a shrug. Angus nodded, following the dark marks on the floor over near the vault door where they tapered off. If he had to guess it was probably super old dried blood. 

“It really is a shame that the body’s gone,” Angus mumbled, looking at the blood and then the door. Kinda looked like he was trying to line something up in his head, but fuck if Taako knew what. 

“Yeah, that kinda disintegrated, sorry,” Taako said, although it didn’t look like Angus was paying too much attention to him. He was all wrapped up in his detective-ing. 

“The relic was kept in here?” he asked, motioning towards the vault. 

“Yep,” Taako said, watching as Angus wrote down a couple more things in his notebook. The kid walked into the vault, looking at the doors and the floor both inside and outside, scribbling in his book the entire time. “Care to share your thoughts with the class?” Taako asked after a bit, starting to get bored. It seemed to knock Angus out of his thoughts some, as he finally looked back over at Taako for once. 

“Oh, I was trying to figure out the circumstances of the red robe’s death. You said she right? Well, she must’ve been here for the relic, and she almost managed to get it but got stopped right outside of the door. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of a huge fight though. The red robes were incredibly powerful magic users though, so that doesn’t make much sense, right?” 

“Right,” Taako nodded in agreement. He hadn’t thought much about it before, but he hadn’t actually cared. Just been some dead thug, not his problem how she got there or why. 

“So, she must’ve been taken out by surprise. There’s blood dried here and over where the body was, but it’s not enough for her to of died from bleeding out, so there was probably something like poison involved,” Angus said, and huh, that made sense. Taako wouldn't of even thought to consider something like that. “The Rockseeker who ran this mine must’ve gotten the drop on the red robe before locking himself inside of the vault. Of course, once he was in there he wasn’t able to resist the relic and that’s why it’s all burned up inside. Not able to open the vault, the red robe wasn’t able to do anything but sit and succumb to the poison,” Angus finished, nodding to himself. 

“Ya know, most of the time the whole detective thing is kinda obnoxious, but you’re actually pretty good at this,” Taako said, impressed despite himself. Angus fucking beamed at that, and god, the kid soaked up praise just as much as Taako did. 

“Well I _am_ the world’s greatest, so I’d hope so,” he said, clearly proud of himself. Yeah, no one could say this kid didn't have a bit of an ego too. After a moment though he sighed, starting to chew on one of his nails. “The problem is, none of this actually explains what’s going on with your umbrella,” he admitted. Right, Taako had nearly forgotten that was the whole reason they were doing this. 

“Yeah no, cool to know, not actually useful at the moment,” he said. They spent the next couple of hours in the cave, and after a while Taako sat down, letting Angus do whatever weird detective techniques he had to figure shit out. It was boring but kind of relaxing, the sound of the waves from somewhere close by echoing around them. Taako had only been near the ocean a few times, but he’d always found it calming. 

Finally, he heard Angus sigh loudly enough to grab his attention, kicking at some loose rocks on the ground in defeat. 

“I don’t think I can get anything else out of here. Sorry sir, I’d really been hoping this would’ve been a better break,” Angus said. Taako pushed himself up to his feet, stretching his arms up above his head before shrugging. 

“Eh, don’t even worry about it. Doesn’t matter much to me if the umbra staff screws up sometimes as long as it still works when I need it to,” he said. Angus nodded, but he still seemed disappointed. “And hey, you did figure out some old ass murder mystery after like, five minutes. That’s pretty cool.” 

“Yeah, I did do a pretty good job on that one,” Angus admitted, a small smile returning to his face. Okay, maybe third levels spells were necessary in cheering kids up all the time, sometimes they just needed some fuel to their egos. Taako could understand that. He'd lived more off of praise than anything else for a long time. 

_“Anyway,_ let’s get back to the base before people start to miss my presence too much,” Taako said, turning and starting out of the room. Angus quickly ran after him, sticking close to his side as they walked out. 

Taako wasn’t disappointed at the lack of answers. Honestly, he didn’t even want to think about what the umbra staff had done. It left a sense of unease in him that he’d much rather ignore. Hopefully Angus would put it to rest now and Taako wouldn’t have to think about it ever again. He could forget and be done with it. 

Still, there was a small part of him that wished they _had_ found something. It was the same part of him that had held the umbra staff so tightly that his fist had been trembling when Angus explained how the red robe had died, and it was the same part of him that reached out and grab the kid by the shoulder whenever he tripped over an errant rock and made sure he didn’t fall on his face. 

Taako was perfectly content in forgetting about that part of himself as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Birthday chapter. It's my birthday so y'all get a chapter. So, in surprise to absolutely no one who's ever read any other longfic i've ever written, I've come to the realization that this fic is gonna be a bit longer than I originally intended. We've got like, at least two more chapters before we even get to the 11th hour, and the gap between that and the suffering game is supposed to be the like, the bigger of the two gaps. So uh, hope y'all are cool with getting a lot of this fic.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.


	13. Different Types of Fear

Lup wondered sometimes if letting go would be easier. 

That was dumb, of course it would be. Staying aware was so hard, feeling out around the umbra staff and channeling energy into spells for month on end was exhausting, in whatever form she could even feel exhaustion anymore. She could deal with all of that though. Exhaustion was another thing she could focus on, something that could make her feel the slightest bit like she was still a person. 

No, it was everything _else_ that made her think maybe curling up and letting her consciousness fade into nothing would be better. 

The relief and overwhelming joy when she’d finally heard Taako, her brother, her heart outside of the umbra staff was quickly replaced by confusion and horror as she realized what was going on. 

He didn’t remember her. He didn’t know what the umbra staff or the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet was. He treated Magnus and Merle like strangers and none of them recognized Lucretia or Davenport (oh _god,_ what was wrong with Davenport?). 

It didn’t take too long for Lup to figure out what was going on, or at least an idea of it. All she had was time to think after all. There was something with the voidfish, she wasn't sure what but she didn't need to know the details. Obviously Luce was trying her own plan, and there wasn’t anything she could do to warn them of the damage that would cause. 

She didn’t know where Barry was. He wasn’t with them. She’d thought for a moment before the gauntlet had destroyed that town she’d heard him, but she hoped she was wrong. She hoped he was safe somewhere with Angus, and she could find them when she finally managed to get through to Taako to let her out of there. 

She found out soon enough that wasn’t the case, however. 

She hadn’t been paying much attention on the train at first. She felt certain that her brother wouldn’t need her help on this one, the relic wasn’t even being used by anyone. He was so different from how he used to be, but he wasn’t as incompetent as he seemed, she was sure. So she almost hasn’t heard when they started talk to a child that had been on board, almost missed when he introduced himself. 

Lup tried not to get her hopes up as she reached outside of the umbrella to look. It couldn’t be. His last name was wrong, and he kept mentioning a grandpa. Plus, she had no way to measure time inside of the staff, but it couldn’t have been _that_ long. Lucretia had looked so much older though, too old. It didn’t match up with the aging Magnus had done, which didn’t make sense. Either way though, it couldn’t have been long enough for Angus to have aged enough to be traveling around on his own. 

But when she finally managed to extend her sight out to look at the child her dear friends were teasing she felt herself try and cry out. But no one could hear her. No one could _ever_ hear her. 

She told herself she might still be wrong, but there was no way. She wanted to cry, gods, he still looked so much like Barry. He had the same dorky smile, and apparently the same bad eyesight judging from the thick glasses. The realization that she’d been gone for ten years came crashing down around her like a wave. Ten whole years. She knew it’d been long, but she hadn’t realized it was that long. She’d missed so much. When he sassed Magnus about being able to detect through their horseshit she wanted to tear out of there to high-five him, proud he could hold his own even without her having been there. She half expected Taako to do it for her. 

It was horribly, painfully clear that none of them knew who he was, and he didn’t know them. All of this was by chance, and there was no reason for them to think anything of it. There wasn’t anything she could _do._

Still, she found herself yelling at Taako during the whole ordeal. _(Not killing things isn’t considered a drought asshole don’t tell him that! Fuck be more careful throwing my kid off of a **moving train** will you? Motherfucker give him back his silverware you don’t need that! No dingus all of it! Uuugh will you stop being such a jackass already?!)_

All of that was nothing though compared to the panic she felt when they started to leave. Without Angus. 

( _No! No Taako please fuck don’t leave him! I need to make sure he’s okay! Please Taako you promised me you’d watch him! Remember already! Please just remember I’m begging you!)_

It hadn’t worked, no one could hear her and she somehow felt even more cold and empty once they were all back on Lucretia’s base. She hadn’t thought she could feel any more useless trapped inside of this thing, but she somehow managed to. 

She hadn’t tried to reach out much after that, not until the arcane core had surged through her. It was one thing after another once that happened. She finally got to feel _alive_ and _powerful_ again, and then, barely a few hours later she saw Barry. He was a lich, and he was hiding his identity (in the most hilarious and dramatic way possible, god she loved him) but he was there. 

And then another shot of relief when she heard Angus’s voice again. He was so smart and now Lucretia was going to keep him close and she could make sure her son was _safe._ It looked like he’d been well taken care of for most of his life, but she didn’t know anything about it and that sat ten different kinds of wrong with her. They were supposed to be there, even with her gone he should’ve been with Barry and Taako. Hell, he should have been with _all_ of them. She couldn’t understand why that wasn’t the case, but that didn’t matter now because they had him back. 

Except of course, that no one _knew._ Lucretia had to know, she wouldn’t have brought a kid into this otherwise, no matter how talented (and god, Angus was so talented). She wasn’t saying anything though. Fuck, she wished she could talk to Barry. He had to be so broken up, not knowing where Angus was. 

Again she found herself feeling powerless. She took every opportunity she could to take in more about Angus, but she was left with only little bits and pieces. It highlighted something she’d been trying to ignore too. 

She knew Taako had changed, but the difference was so glaring here. He’d never been a bundle of kindness, for sure. She knew her brother reserved his emotions, kept himself back from people and situations ever since they were kids. That had only gotten more extreme as they raced through the planes, as they had to make tougher and tougher decisions. Taako kept to the big picture and sometimes he didn’t let emotions be a part of that. It was how he had to make due, hell it was how he kept his fucking sanity through it all. 

Despite all of that though, he’d never been cruel. Selfish, petty or cold sometimes, but he always cared underneath all that. He had to dampen his feelings to get through the bullshit they had to live with, but they were never completely gone. 

This Taako was different though, and it hurt to see. There were still glimmers of his old self in there, but they were buried underneath a thick layer of callousness that was horrifying. 

Slowly though, she noticed that layer thinning, around both Magnus and Merle, and thankfully around Angus. He still wasn’t all that great, he still didn’t _know,_ but he’d started teaching him magic, and Taako had always been a good teacher. It was nice to see that at least hadn’t changed. 

She hadn’t meant to destroy the cookies when she’d tried to signal them, but she finally had enough power and they were together and she couldn’t _wait_ any longer. As little as it had helped, neither of them had any idea what that even meant. 

Lup couldn't even bring herself to try and tear at the thick curtains surrounding her as she sank down in despair. There was nothing. The most important people in her life didn't even know her _name._ She was completely erased and had to watch everyone live like she'd never fucking existed. 

The next thing she'd bothered paying attention to was a horribly familiar echo. She tried not to panic when she realized they were back at wave echo cave. The sound of the water rushing through the stone corridors was terrifying. She didn’t want to be back here. She didn’t want to get stuck again, she couldn’t stand another ten years like that. 

She could barely focuse past her terror. When Taako went and sat up against one of the walls it felt too much like the position she’d been in for all of that time. Listening to Angus talk about how she’d died in the background was almost too much (he was so close, if Lucretia hadn’t lied to him about the ‘red robes’ she was sure he would have gotten it. Her son was amazing and she wished she could cry). 

Despite the fear though, she kept hoping they would realize something. Figure out she was in there let her out already. 

She was both relieved and devastated when they finally left. She couldn’t stand to be in that cave any longer, but she couldn’t stand her family not knowing her or each other either. It hurt so much, and no matter what she did they just wouldn’t remember. 

There was nothing she could do but wait to be free. All she could ever do anymore was wait and hope. 

\---

Angus followed Taako out of wave echo cave, and the walk was quiet but not in a bad way. It was getting late, and Angus was trying to go over everything he’d seen in his head to make sure he didn’t miss anything. If only the body had still been there, or at least the robe, he might’ve been able to get more clues that way. As it was though, there just wasn’t enough information. 

He guessed he was a little too wrapped up in his thoughts sometimes, because Taako had to keep making sure he didn’t trip or walk into little rocky outcrops or anything. Soon enough though they were out of the cave and Taako was calling up a pod to take them back to the base. 

“Sorry that hadn’t been more useful sir, I was really hoping I could figure out why your umbra staff did that,” Angus said as they waited. Taako didn’t seem like he cared much about his umbrella acting weird, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still want to know and wasn’t showing it. 

“Eh, no big deal Ango. You figured out way more than I thought anyone would be able to with an empty cave and a couple of smudges. Plus, I didn’t have to risk getting stuck with any other bozo’s dumb plans today,” Taako said, and he didn’t sound like he was bothered by this whole thing. 

“Just stuck with my dumb plans, right?” Angus teased. Taako actually chuckled a bit at that, which Angus couldn’t help but be pleased by. 

“Don’t get used to it kid, Taako time is a precious commodity. Can’t be throwing it around all willy-nilly,” he said, pushing himself off of the rock he’d been leaning against when the glass orb started coming into view. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it sir,” Angus assured, and he was joking but Taako nodded sagely. 

“And that’s why I know you’re smart enough for me to keep you around,” he said, the two of them climbing into the canon ball. It was a short ride back to the moon base, and Angus had to start fighting back yawns as the excitement from the day faded. Once they were up Taako shooed him away, although Angus didn’t need much prompting to go back to his room. 

He wasn’t quite tired enough to go to sleep once he was back though. They’d stayed out late yeah, but not _too_ late. They didn’t want people to get suspicious after all. Sitting down at his desk, Angus pulled out the notes he’d taken at the cave. 

He was pretty confident on his theory of the red robe’s death. He couldn’t be 100% sure, but that was only because there wasn’t a body anymore. It was still the most likely scenario from what Angus could find, so unless anything else came up he was going to assume he was right. 

Of course, whether he was right or not didn’t actually matter here, because that wasn’t the mystery he’d been trying to solve. 

He wasn’t any closer to figuring out what L U P meant, or how Taako’s umbrella was different from other umbra staves. 

Angus didn’t want to write it off as a lost cause though. There were precious few mysteries he’d done that for, and this was still way too new for him to give it that treatment. Still, he figured he might have to wait until some new development came along, or he found a place with better resources on umbra wizards. 

With a sigh, Angus closed his notebook and placed it back on the small bookshelf in his room. It wasn’t ideal but he’d put this mystery on the back burner for now. He needed to focus more on helping to find the next relic anyway. He might’ve been neglecting that for a bit since Taako started teaching him magic. Even though they’d gotten one recently, it seemed like it took a long time to find one and so they shouldn’t take a break. 

Plus, they hadn’t quite ‘found’ the last one. The person who had it just kinda came forward because he messed up so much. At least it made sense that they hadn’t been able to find it, since they hadn’t been looking at people they were supposed to trust. 

Over the next few days Angus turned his focus back to searching for the next relic. There were always false leads, and it was sometimes hard to distinguish between them because by the nature of the voidfish, no one on the planet would be able to fully comprehend when they had a relic. 

Right now though Angus was looking through some reports in his room and all he could find were false leads, and not even many of them at that. He supposed it made sense, as they continued to gather them the remaining ones would be even harder to find, since there were less of them out there. There were only three left now, and they could be anywhere in the world. 

At least this wasn’t something he felt like he’d run into a dead end with. They’d show up eventually, and the bureau would be the first to find out when that happened. Besides, his work wasn’t even dedicated to finding the relics, he just liked to be helpful. Really though, he was supposed to learn as much as he could about them once the other seekers found them and help the reclaimers as they went to gather them. 

Which, honestly Angus had been trying not to think about too much since he got back from his trip down with Taako. He knew how dangerous the missions were, he’d been with them on the train and tried to help them through the lab. 

Somehow though, seeing the giant glass disk that used to be a whole town full of people was different. Taako casually mentioning how close they all were to burning up and Angus never having a chance to meet them was different. He’d been so focused on the mystery on the Rockport limited, and he hadn’t been able to _see_ what was going on in the lab.

Seeing what the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet could do made it feel much more real. Taako, Magnus and Merle could die on one of their missions and Angus would never see them again. 

Without thinking Angus pulled out his stone of farspeech, syncing it up to Taako’s frequency. It was dumb, he knew they weren’t on a mission right now so there was no reason for any of them to be in any danger. He guessed it wouldn’t hurt to check though, just to be perfectly sure. 

“Um, are you there sir?” he asked, trying to keep himself from sounding too worried. There was a brief pause before he heard the stone crackle to life on the other side and he breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Hey it’s cha boy, what’d ya need?” Taako asked, and Angus realized he didn’t actually have a reason for calling him. He could make something up fast about magic lessons or the umbra staff mystery or something if he tried. 

“Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you, sorry,” was all he ended up saying though. Taako’s end of the stone was silent for a long moment before Angus heard a heavy sigh. 

“Look pumpkin, I totally understand the feel. I’m pretty fucking incredible, who wouldn’t want to talk to me? I told you before though that Taako time is a precious commodity,” he said. Angus nodded, slumping down a little in his chair. Taako couldn’t see how disappointed he looked, so it was alright. 

“No, I understand sir. Sorry for bothering you,” he said, moving to turn his stone off. Before he could though Taako was speaking again and Angus stopped himself. 

“Hey now, I said it was a precious commodity but I never said it was out of stock,” he said, surprising Angus. He wouldn’t be surprised at Taako trying to blow him off right now, since he called him up out of the blue for no reason, but he apparently wasn’t. “You got something interesting enough to talk about and I’m sure I could rearrange my busy schedule of doing jack-fucking-shit,” he added. 

“I’m not sure if it’s particularly interesting,” Angus started, and he hadn’t even been planning on talking about this, but Taako was actually asking him to talk, in his own way. “Do you think… what do you think are the chances you’ll die trying to get one of the relics?” 

Taako was quiet for another moment, and he guessed the question was strange and out of the blue. 

“I mean, pretty fucking high most likely,” he said finally. “Like, I’ve nearly died every mission so far. The real question should be how _haven’t_ I died already, that’s a fucking mystery right there. It sure wasn’t because we have a competent cleric, I’ll tell you that much,” he continued, and he was being so lighthearted about it, like he honestly wasn’t bothered by the idea of him dying. Maybe it was a goof, but Angus couldn’t help but get more upset at the thought. 

“Please don’t die sir!” he said, speaking a little quicker than he strictly needed to. 

“Huh?” Taako said, sounding confused by the small outburst.

“Please don’t die. I don’t want you to die,” Angus said, although he doubted that helped Taako understand any. 

“Wait, shit. Are you like, legitimately upset about this?” Taako asked, surprise clear in his voice. Angus couldn’t help but feel dumb because of the question. There was no reason for him to be so worried about this right now. They weren’t even close to finding another relic and he was supposed to be focused on helping them survive through their missions anyway. He was just acting like some dumb kid right now. 

“Maybe,” he mumbled after a moment. He could hear Taako sigh once again at that answer. 

“Ango I’m not,” Taako hesitated, like he couldn’t actually bring himself to say he wasn’t going to die and the fact that he was so uncertain caused Angus to whimper despite his best attempts at staying in control. He liked Taako, he liked all of them. He’d been so scared when he thought something had happened when they went after the philosopher’s stone. He didn’t want to go through that again. 

“Damn it, no stop that absolutely none of that here, I literally can’t with that,” Taako said quickly. 

“I’m sorry sir,” Angus said, but Taako was cutting him off again almost immediately. 

“Nope, no apologizing either. _Listen,_ this isn’t something you’re allowed to worry about anymore. I’ve officially banned it as your mentor or whatever,” he said. Angus was pretty sure him ‘banning’ this wouldn’t actually do anything, but it made him smile the slightest bit despite that. 

“Whatever you say sir,” Angus said, the words coming second nature at that point. 

“Mhmm,” Taako hummed in agreement, but it sounded like his mind was elsewhere. “Hey, it’s been a while since our last magic lesson. You got a handle on those cantrips yet? Cause cha boy was thinking of moving you up to first level. Burning hands seems like something you might be able to take to,” he continued, and it was an obvious and clumsy subject change but Angus was grateful anyway. 

“That sounds great sir, I’ve been practicing the cantrips and I’ve gotten really good at them,” Angus said. 

“Hell yeah, meet me out in the quad cause I’m not sacrificing anything in my room for this,” Taako said, surprising him. 

“Wait, right now?” he asked. 

“Uh, yeah? Hurry up, Taako doesn’t have all day,” he said like it was obvious. Angus couldn’t help but smile at that. He hadn’t expected Taako to go so far out of his way to cheer him up, even if he wouldn’t admit that was what he was doing. 

“Thank you sir,” he said, letting his voice sound as sincere as he felt. 

“Yeah whatever come on before I change my mind,” Taako said, clearly feeling awkward about this. 

“Be right there,” Angus said, shutting off his stone of farspeech and grabbing his wand before heading out. Honestly, the idea of losing Taako was even more terrifying now. 

He was banned from thinking about that though, so taking a deep breath Angus pushed those thought to the back of his mind before starting down to the quad to meet up with Taako.

\---

Taako dropped his stone of farspeech and sighed, standing up to head to the quad. This _fucking_ kid. He didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do with him. Taako wasn’t the type of person you thought of when you needed to talk to someone because you’re a kid and you suddenly got the crushing realization of just how dangerous the shit that was going on around you was and you wanted comfort, and yet that was exactly what the brat did. 

He wasn’t even fucking discouraging it either. Sure he wasn’t all soft and gentle with the kid like an actual decent person would be, but he’d tried. He couldn’t tell him that they wouldn’t die, because that would be a lie (not that he should even care about that, but Angus would see through it anyway) so he did the next best thing and told him not to worry. Well, he banned him from thinking about it, but it was the same thing. 

And now he was going down to meet with the kid and try to distract him and cheer him up with magic. It was so fucking stupid. 

Taako briefly considered not going. Tell him later he got distracted and forgot, he’d get over it. 

But no, he was already out of his dorm and walking down the halls towards the quad. Whatever, he’d been planning on teaching the kid some evocation spells anyway, and he’d been doing well with the cantrips so starting some level 1 stuff seemed like a good idea. 

He tried to tell himself those were the only factors motivating him here. It had nothing to do with the way he remembered Angus waiting for him that time he’d been late, or the desperate sad tone to his voice when they’d spoke a few moments before. 

When he got to the quad the kid looked a lot cheerier than he had sounded, and okay hopefully he was over that little outburst already. Taako did not think he could deal with any of that in person. 

Burning hands was a pretty simple spell, and Taako made sure to aim it away from the grass and anything else flammable as he demonstrated. He wasn’t too surprised when it only took a few adjustments before Angus managed to let out a similar but smaller burst of flame. Without hesitating Taako let out a quick gust of wind to put out the small fire spreading on the grass. 

“Did you see that sir? I actually did it! I wonder if I can…” he trailed off, already putting his hands back into the position Taako had showed him to try and cast the spell again. 

“Slow your rolls there kiddo, pretty sure you don’t got the spell slots for that,” Taako said casually. Angus pouted, not actually putting his hands down, but no longer saying the incantation. 

“But I don’t _want_ to wait until tomorrow to try again, I got it,” he complained before trying to cast the spell despite his warning. It failed like Taako expected it would and Angus huffed in disappointment, crossing his arms. His hat must’ve been knocked from its usual spot when he first cast the burning hands, because his ears were out and pointed down, further accentuating the full pout going on with the kid. 

Fucking hell, he was so _young._

It wasn’t something Taako thought about much, Angus was smarter than most of the people on this base after all. He could hold his own in conversations and was helping them save the goddamn world. He didn’t need things sugar coated or toned down, and fuck sometimes Taako just plain forgot how young he actually was and he knew the others did too. 

Seeing him all upset over the fact that he had to wait for his spell slots to recharge, combined with the way he’d sounded so fucking small and afraid when he asked Taako not to die earlier, it was just. Fuck. 

How had _Taako_ ended up being the one having to watch out for this actual literal child?

“Sorry kiddo, but waiting is exactly what you’re gonna have to do,” he said, trying to knock himself away from those thoughts. He wasn’t the one who thought it’d be a good idea to hire some little brat for such a dangerous job. Angus wasn’t his responsibility, even if the kid had latched onto him. 

“I guess so. Did it look good though sir? It was bright and I might’ve closed by eyes so I didn’t get a clear picture, did I do it well?” Angus asked, clearly looking for approval. It wasn’t Taako’s job to give it to him, but he was his magic teacher or whatever. He wasn’t being anything other than that if he told him he did well on a spell, which he had. A little weak and definitely not a full cone, but for the first time casting anything above a cantrip it’d been great. 

“Yeah sure, your parents would be proud as fuck,” Taako said absently. When he looked over at Angus he expected the kid to be all smiles like he normally was when Taako praised him, but he was just staring at him, confusion written all over his face. Not upset or anything, just like he had no fucking idea what Taako was talking about. 

“I- okay?” he said, still looking at Taako like he’d grown a second head. It took him a second to realize exactly why he was acting like that. 

That was probably a pretty freaking weird and probably insensitive thing to say to a kid who’d never mentioned his parents once in the entire time Taako had known him. 

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretty sure this is the longest chapter to date. I didn't have the lup section at first and then i realized i absolutely needed the lup section. she's not having a very good time in there. I swear, the majority of this fic is fluff, or at least that's how it's planned to be. I guess the fic itself could revolt and choose otherwise. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!


	14. Alone

Angus stared at Taako as they stood in the quad next to the little burnt patch of grass from his spell. It wasn’t like that was the strangest thing the wizard had ever said to him, he was always saying things that didn’t make much sense. That was just how Taako was. Really, it shouldn’t confuse Angus as much as it had, but it was just-

That wasn’t a topic he _ever_ expected Taako to bring up. 

And now he was staring at him, and Angus was pretty sure he hadn’t even realized what he was saying when he said it. He wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. It wasn't really anything, if he was thinking logically. 

“Do you really think that sir?” Angus asked, because it wasn’t like he’d never thought about how his parents would feel about him if they knew him. It didn’t plague him or anything like that, but he felt it was a perfectly normal thing to be curious about. 

“Sure, I mean, do you even have parents?” Taako asked, and he actually looked kind of nervous. It was strange seeing him like this, although Angus guessed it wasn’t the first time. He’d seemed really spooked after the umbra staff had shot those letters into the wall, that was probably the closest to how he looked now. That was a very different scenario to this one though. Angus wasn't sure why he'd be so nervous now, except for the fact that this wasn't the kind of thing he would usually talk about. 

“Well, presumably everyone does, so yes,” Angus said. Taako rolled his eyes at that answer and he looked a little bit more like his normal self again. 

“No shit, you already said you weren’t a robot. I mean like, you’ve never mentioned them before,” he said, and Angus nodded. 

“That’s because I don’t know them sir,” he said simply. Maybe that should bother him more than it did, but the only thing that got at him sometimes was the fact that it was one of the few mysteries he couldn’t solve no matter how much he’d tried. And he had definitely tried, quite a bit. 

“Oh. Yeah okay that makes sense,” Taako said, and he looked uncomfortable again. That wasn’t too surprising, it was a common reaction whenever Angus had mentioned his parents to people before. Or his lack of them, more accurately. 

“Um, do you think we can do some more cantrips? Since I don’t have any more spell slots? We just started and I know this lesson was kind of impromptu but I'd like to go a bit longer if you have the time,” he asked, changing the subject. He did want to continue the magic lesson after all, and if he couldn’t keep practicing burning hands he’d settle for something else. Taako seemed incredibly grateful for the change of topics, nodding quickly. 

“Yeah sure thing my man, uh, let’s see. Fire bolt’s a good burning hands equivalent cantrip, not sure why I didn’t have you learn that one first honestly,” Taako said. Angus nodded, listening carefully as he began to explain the spell. Over the next few hours he felt he got a hang of it pretty well, but they decided it was best to stop when Angus accidentally hurled a bolt at one of the nearby trees and Taako almost hadn’t been able to put it out before the whole thing went up in flames. 

Angus felt more tired than he had at the end of most of their other lessons, and he guessed Taako hadn’t been kidding about the spell slots thing. He knew it took up energy, but it was different feeling it for real. 

“Okay, time for food and sleep, in that order. Come on bubula I’m one stamp short for a free chicken sandwich at fantasy Wendy’s so you’re with me,” Taako said and Angus nodded and followed along. He was pretty hungry after all, and he knew if he said anything to point out how nice Taako was being it’d only upset him and he'd deny it. 

Angus was quiet as Taako ordered them food and soon enough they were sitting down eating. Part of him had to fight to stay awake, and he figured he'd end up falling asleep pretty fast once he got back to his room. 

“Do you really think they’d be proud of me?” Angus asked finally, breaking the silence. He hadn’t been planning on coming back to that topic, but the idea that Taako thought that wouldn’t leave his mind. Part of Angus knew it was less of the fact that his parents _would_ be proud of him, and more of the idea that Taako actually _was._ He wouldn't say something like that unless he was too, right? 

“Who, your parents? I don’t know, it’s not like I knew em either,” he said, clearly uncomfortable again and trying to dodge the question. Angus expected him to leave it at that, but he sighed and continued. “They’d be dumb if they weren’t though, since you’re like, the smartest kid ever or whatever and helping save the world and shit. Kinda a step above the regular brats most parents get stuck with,” Taako said flippantly, like he wasn’t saying anything important or that wasn’t obvious. 

It was important though, and Angus couldn’t stop smiling at the praise. 

“You forgot also the world’s greatest detective and apprentice to ‘the one, the only, Taako,’” he teased. Taako rolled his eyes, taking a long drink of his frosty before speaking. 

“Yeah, alright the Taako thing _is_ pretty impressive,” he said. Angus laughed at that, and he should’ve expected that kind of answer. “Which of your parents was an elf?” Taako asked after another moment, surprising him. He didn't expect him to actually continue this conversation, most people didn't. 

“I don’t know, I told you I never met them,” he said, but Taako was frowning. 

“Yeah, but I know for a fact you kept mentioning your grandpa when we first met you. What was he and what side was he from?” he asked, and oh, that made sense. 

“He was human, but he’s not actually related to my parents, so that doesn’t help,” Angus told him. Taako was looking really confused again, although Angus couldn’t imagine why. This wasn’t a super hard concept, and as much as Taako pretended he was dumb Angus knew otherwise. 

“What do you mean he’s not related? Were you just calling this random dude without a fucking name your grandpa?” Taako asked.

“No, no he was my grandpa, but it was more like adoption or something? He always said he was my grandpa, and he raised me, but when I looked into it he never had any children, so it wasn’t by blood. He was very old and confused a lot, but he cared about me and that's all you need for family I think,” Angus explained. Taako slowly nodded, seeming to think it over for a few moments. 

“Yeah alright, makes as much sense as anything,” he mumbled. Angus was kind of surprised that Taako was actually interested in this. “You said when you looked into it, did you try to find them or something?” he asked, and Angus quickly nodded. 

“Oh yes, it was one of the first mysteries I ever tried to solve. I was never able to though, since there wasn’t ever anything to go off of. McDonald’s my grandpa’s last name, and I don’t even know if they named me Angus or if my grandpa did,” he said. Taako nodded again, and there was clearly something going on in his mind, although it was hard enough to read him on a good day, and Angus was still very tired. 

“It doesn’t bother me, not knowing them, I mean. Although it is a bit annoying that it’s one of the only mysteries I haven’t been able to solve and it’s about _me,”_ he continued, and it was kind of nice getting to talk about this. “I mean, I have some hypothesis on why they left me of course, although nothing I can say for certain. I figure it’s most likely the whole half-elf thing. Some people don’t like that, but it worked out because my grandpa was super nice and I don't think he even noticed anyway,” Angus said in between bites of his food. When he looked back up at Taako the elf was frowning deeply. 

“Is that why you always hide your ears?” he asked. Angus felt said ears twitch slightly at the mention, and they must have come out from underneath his hat when he hadn’t noticed. He almost reached up to fix them instinctively, but Taako was still looking at him all unhappy and he managed to resist the urge. 

“Not directly? People usually can’t tell that I’m not only human if they don’t see them though, and that made it easier sometimes when working on different cases,” he explained. 

“Okay, but why _keep_ hiding them? No one here gives a crap about anything like that, you see anyone bothering Johann? I mean, for being a half-elf, not just because he’s Johann,” Taako asked, and he actually sounded like of upset about this. Or maybe not upset, but definitely not pleased. Kinda angry, although it didn't seem like he was mad at Angus. 

“I guess I’m just used to doing it,” Angus said. 

“Well you should stop. If anyone has a problem with it then fuck them, and if your parents did leave you for such a bullshit reason then _fuck them,”_ Taako said. Angus stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say to that. Slowly a smile started to spread across his face. 

“Thank you Taako,” he said, and that seemed to knock Taako out of whatever had spurred on that anger. The irritation that had been on his face was replaced with embarrassment. Looking down at their table, they’d both finished eating a while ago and had just been sitting there talking. 

“Uh-huh, whatever. You better appreciate the patented Taako life advice, that shit’s worth more than gold,” he said, pushing himself up out of his chair. “Well, I’m leaving this joint and you’re going to get some sleep,” he added, and Angus nodded as he got up as well. 

“Okay sir, I am pretty tired I suppose,” he said, throwing away his trash before following Taako back outside. When they reached the point where Angus had to split off to go to his own dorm he hesitated slightly. “Um, Taako?” he asked as he started walking away. He heard the elf sigh heavily before turning back towards him. 

“Kid I swear-” Taako stared, cutting off abruptly when Angus hugged him. He went stuff against him, and Angus wasn’t too surprised when he didn’t hug him back. He did gently place a hand on his head after a few seconds though, and that was good enough. 

“Yeah alright, enough of that, we can stop now, get off,” Taako said after a moment, and Angus let go of him. He felt like he should say something, but he didn’t know what. He wasn’t sure if Taako could tell he was at a loss for words or not, but either way he spoke before Angus could. “Go get some sleep pumpkin,” he said simply, and Angus nodded. 

“Okay, goodnight sir,” he said. Taako gave a flippant wave as he started to walk off. 

“Mhmm,” he hummed. It wasn’t a far distance from there to his room, and as soon as Angus made it there he crashed into his bed. He wondered what his life would have been like if he’d actually been raised by his parents. 

Angus decided that if he was he wouldn’t have ended up in the bureau, and he never would have met Taako. 

He’d take what he had now over some hypothetical happy life with his parents any day. 

\---

Taako locked himself in his room, dropping the umbra staff to the floor before collapsing on his bed. As soon as his face was somewhat muffled by a pillow he let out a long, loud groan of frustration. 

What the fuck was all that _bullshit?_

He’d only been planning on teaching the brat some magic. It wasn’t supposed to be a _thing._ So it had turned less into a one-time sorry-for-stealing-from-you-here’s-a-magehand and more into an actual like, apprenticeship deal or whatever, but that was still alright. Thin fucking ice, but still it was a level he could deal with. 

What he could not deal with was Angus casually talking about his hypothesis on why he was fucking abandoned and the need to hide his elf ancestry like he was discussing the goddamn weather. Or at least if he _was_ going to go with the whole detached stitch Taako could respect that, but it didn’t work when he didn’t stick with it. He couldn’t just go clinging to Taako in a hug not even five goddamn minutes later like that shit wasn’t obviously connected. 

Ugh, the worst fucking part though wasn’t even that. Nope, none of that shit even really bothered him, at least not in the way it was supposed to. He wasn’t annoyed that Angus had dumped all that shit on him. 

No, what bothered him was that it happened at all. 

He wished it hadn’t. For some fucking reason even though Angus didn’t even outwardly care about it, Taako was upset that there wasn’t any way for him to be able to fix the way he had to grow up. It was fucking ridiculous, it clearly never hampered the kid any. He pretty much had shit made for himself even before the bureau had found him. Then the bureau had found him and he lived on the goddamn moon and had a pretty sweet deal if Taako did say so himself. 

That didn’t change how he felt for some reason though. Taako tried to ignore the obvious reason, the way it cut a little too close to home. It was different, it was clearly different. Angus was never out on the road, not knowing where the fuck he was gonna sleep or just going without it all together because it wasn’t like it mattered, elves didn’t need to sleep after all. He had family, however small (a grandpa who apparently couldn't even pay attention enough to notice he was a half-elf. Who was so fucking senile he didn't even know his own name). 

There was a thread there though, something Taako could see and understand as much as Angus brushed it aside and as much as he didn’t even fucking want to think about. 

He was an outcast, and he was alone. 

The fact that Taako actually gave a shit about that was absolutely terrifying. 

He briefly considered screaming into his pillow again, but that wouldn’t actually change shit. He could get up and leave and not come back, that was his preferred option for most things. Wait, no, the fucking bracer. The bureau could track him, and he wasn’t about to put actual effort into this thing he wasn’t even supposed to care about. 

He could just tell Ango to get lost like he should have from the beginning. Cut it all off and be done with it. 

Ugh, it was a little too late for that. Kid would be fucking heartbroken if Taako actually canceled their magic lessons and all that shit, which he _shouldn’t_ care about but he did. He couldn’t deny at least that the kid was a natural at that shit, which made teaching him easy. If he was gonna teach anyone, it was gonna be someone with skills. 

Enough skills that if Taako let him loose now, he was sure that Angus could manage to figure out most shit on his own at this point with books and junk. Not the best way to learn, but he’d already managed to pick up a few spells without any guidance from Taako at all. 

He didn’t even need to be teaching the kid anymore, strictly speaking. 

Fuck. 

“What am I even supposed to do here?” he asked, a part of him waiting like he expected some sort of answer. There wasn’t one of course, the silence stretching on in his empty room, broken only by Taako’s own sigh. 

He wasn’t sure why he ever thought there’d be anything else. 

He was still alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know the players handbook talks about how half-elves are rarely truly accepted by humans or elves? Angus is a very smart boy who would catch onto the shit real fucking quick. Also there's no way the world's greatest detective wouldn't have tried to figure out who his parents were (it was the first mystery he tried to solve, directly after reading his first Caleb Cleveland novel and he's more frustrated than he appears that he hasn't been able to crack it). 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!


	15. It's Familiar

Angus felt his mind continuing to stick on the conversation he and Taako had. 

It wasn’t stuff he thought about a lot normally, especially since he joined the bureau. He guessed it hadn't actually been that long since he joined, but it sure did feel like it had. It wasn’t that he was unhappy with his old life any, but coming here had felt like a fresh start. There wasn’t any reason to think about everything from before, he didn’t have any real connection holding him to it with his grandpa dead. 

That was probably for the best. The bureau was great but it did kind of cut its members off from the rest of the world. That didn’t really matter though. He was the world’s greatest detective and now he was working on the world’s greatest case and things were good. He was so incredibly lucky (not all luck, skill too. He was skilled enough to be a seeker and help them save the world) to be here and he wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

But, the thing was he did have a lot more access to, well, everything now. Whole swatches of information that had been erased from the world, as well as regular information available to him now. It was such an incredible opportunity, in so many ways. It probably wouldn’t be the best thing to use all of that for something so personal. 

Having unsolved mysteries really did bother him though, so if for no other reason that was a good enough motivator to try and maybe reopen the case. In his free time, when he wasn’t looking for the relics or learning magic or doing anything else useful. It could be something to work on when he was bored with nothing to do. 

He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to find his parents. The idea was kind of terrifying if he thought about it for too long. 

Wanting to know though, that was a different story. He _always_ wanted to know things. 

Before he could decide if he truly wanted to know this specific thing or not though something much more pressing came up. 

They had a bead on another grand relic. 

Once they knew that Angus pushed everything else out of his head. Whatever he decided was something he could focus on when not helping to save the world. A seeker had managed to detect some strange source of temporal magic all the way out in Woven Gulch. It was hard to confirm what it was at first, because it was just so impenetrable. After a while though the Director did manage to confirm that it was the fifth relic they’d been looking for. 

There was a frustrating lack of information about the temporal chalice. It’s very power left it impossible for them to track it’s usage but Angus pored over every little bit he had. The only thing they could say for sure was that someone was using it now, but that didn’t give them much. The best they could do was have the more magically adept seekers try to figure out some way inside of the barrier.

Angus tried to help out where he could with that, but he was still very new at magic. He couldn’t quite crack grand relic levels of counterspells to get inside yet. Despite that he managed to keep himself busy. He didn’t have much time to learn magic with Taako, but he tried burning hands at least once a day by himself. Sometimes he tried more than once, but he still only seemed to have enough energy for the one spellslot. 

Angus couldn’t be entirely sure if it was because their schedules weren’t aligning or if Taako was avoiding him after that last meeting, but he hoped it wasn’t the latter. He didn't want to ruin things like that. 

Well, whatever it was he could focus on it later. After the relic was secured and they were all back safe. The directed had just called him on his stone of farspeach and said that Avi wanted to see him down in the hanger. He knew Avi had been looking into some way to get through the barrier and he was excited with the possibility to help. 

Throwing his hat on before he left his room, Angus had to stop himself from tucking his ears in like usual. It’d been almost two weeks since Taako had told him to stop hiding them, and sometimes he forgot and did it anyway but he was trying not to for the most part. He was right after all, no one here cared. Angus didn’t care either, it was just something that made things easier. It wasn’t useful anymore so he didn’t need to. 

Maybe it left him feeling a little more self conscious sometimes, but he was sure that would go away with time. 

“Good afternoon Avi sir!” Angus said as he walked into the hanger. Avi glanced up from where he was studying over some papers, all of them completely filled with calculations he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. For a really laid back and relaxed guy Angus had realized right away that he was a lot smarter than he let on. That seemed to be a thing with a lot of people at the bureau. 

“Hey kiddo, uh, you’re real smart and shit right? Like some sort of child genius?” he asked, kind of surprising Angus. 

“Well, I mean, I am the world’s greatest detective, so I have very good deductive skills. I’m also uh, a lot smarter than most kids my age I think, and also a lot of adults I’ve met. Lots of people actually, regardless of age, and I don’t think I’m being vain or anything because you asked and I’m just telling you the truth,” Angus said. Avi kind of laughed, nodding as he seemed to figure something out on the papers before fully turning towards him. 

“Awesome, that’s just what I wanted to hear,” he said, starting to gather up the papers. “So, I think I got a way to break into that weird time bubble thing, but I need to set stuff up and I’ll need to be down their to man it. If I show you how to work the canons you think you could send down the reclaimers when the time comes?” he asked, catching Angus off guard. He hadn’t expected that kind of request at all. 

“I uh, I suppose I could try? Isn’t there someone else you could ask though, someone more, um, adult? Who’s maybe worked with the canons before?” he asked. He didn't usually let his age be a factor in things, but the canons were very big and he was rather small still. 

“Normally yeah, but everyone’s busy planning Boyland’s rights of remembrance, which, damn, rough stuff there,” Avi explained. Angus nodded, because he’d definitely noticed everyone’s down mood since that had begun. He hadn’t gotten much time to know the regulator, but he’d seemed like a really nice person.

“Well then, I guess if you need me to I’ll do everything I can to help,” Angus said, trying to steel his nerves. Avi explained the mechanisms of the cannons as simply as possible, and Angus felt like he had a vague grasp of how they all worked by the end of it. He also set the coordinates up, since the reclaimers would be going to the same place Avi was for the relic. There wasn’t much for Angus to do, besides some last little adjustments for the reclaimers weights and actually setting the canon into motion. 

Still, as he watched Avi set everything up for himself to go down and give Angus an example of what it looked like, he couldn’t help but be nervous. Machinery and stuff weren’t things he typically messed with. If he messed up they could all get hurt. Or worse. 

No matter how nervous he was though, a few days later the director told him that Avi had managed to find a way into the bubble, and as soon as Boyland’s rights of remembrance were done they’d need to send the reclaimers down.

He felt like he should be sad during the rights, but he mostly stayed out of the way and left early to get the canons ready. He didn’t know Boyland as well as everyone else did though, and he hadn’t even cried much at his grandpa’s funeral. That had been so stuffy and formal and full of people he didn’t know and who couldn’t have seen his grandpa in at least the ten years he’d been alive, who’d all been confused by his presence. He’d gotten out of there as fast as possible then as well, although for much different reasons. 

Going over the canons again and again as he waited for them to show up, he tried not to work himself up into too much of a panic. It’d be fine, they weren’t going to die. Avi had it mostly set up, he just had to not screw it up. 

When they finally showed up Angus tried not to let slip how terribly nervous he was. He most certainly failed in that regard, but he tried. They didn’t even tease him that much either, and Taako asked how the magic was going. Angus forgot to ask when they could have another lesson though. He’d have to sometime when they got back. 

If they got back. The director had been noticeably more nervous about this mission. There was a real chance that they wouldn’t return. 

Sitting down in the hanger after sending them off, Angus pulled out his stone of farspeech. It wasn’t long before his connection to the reclaimer’s stones was cut off by the bubble, and there was nothing he could do but wait. 

—

Taako wasn’t trying to avoid Angus, but he couldn’t say he was super upset at the kid suddenly getting busy either. The kid was obviously getting too comfortable and could use some distance before things got out of hand. 

So Taako was thankful for the break while the seekers on base got all caught up with some seeking. Of course, everyone else around was all depressed and shit because of Boyland or whatever, but Taako took that as another excuse to have some alone time. He’d been having a lot less of that lately, which honestly wasn’t something he should get used to. 

Of course, the whole seeking thing meant that they would have to actually go after a relic after a bit, and that’s exactly what happened. As soon as Boyland’s rights were done (thank god, by the way. Maybe everyone would shut up about that now. It wasn’t like it was even a big deal, people died all the time. It never affected _him_ like that) and they got their fun new summer clothes they were sent down to get the time cup. 

The thing was, Taako always figured that they’d end up dying on one of these missions sooner or later. He was hoping for later, but he knew their dumb luck would run out eventually like it always did. 

He hadn’t been expecting to die more than once though. 

Turns out dying hurt. Or at least, dying in hellfire and crushing rocks certainly did. Maybe there were less painful ways to die. Asleep or something sudden like having your neck snapped, but Taako wasn’t going to test it out to see. 

A part of him said that this all should be really fucking jarring, dying and then being not dead and repeating the same shit over and over again in some endless seeming cycle. It should drive a person insane. 

But after coming back once again, Taako picked himself up off of the ground, dusting off his skirt as he prepared to go through this all over again. 

“Just another day at the office baby,” he joked. Merle and Magnus didn’t seem put off by it. They seemed almost as unfazed by all of this as he was. Hell, at one point Magnus cut through a bunch of wires as once, killing them all so they could make better time when they figured out what they were supposed to actually be doing. 

Maybe Taako just liked the routine of it all, the predictability. It all felt familiar. Not comforting, but like this was something he could do for once. He could keep fucking up and dying but at the end of the day they had another chance to actually get it right, and nothing they did before mattered because everything they left behind was just dust. 

And it worked. They met a god and got some sweet loot and found the girl and grabbed the cup. 

And Taako felt fucking _sick._

Good news, he hadn’t killed all those people. Well, he had. It was still his fault, because if he’d given Sazed a part in the show like he wanted to he wouldn’t have felt the need to try and poison him. If he’d tried the food that day while he’d been cooking like he was supposed to he would have died and everyone else would be alright. 

Was dying by poison more or less painful than dying in a fiery blast? The fire was intense and burning and horrible, but it was quick. It was over almost as soon as it started. Poison was slow though, it left your insides feeling like they were being ripped to shreds and you couldn’t breathe and it always felt like it took fucking _forever._

Or, something. That’s how it looked. He didn’t have first hand experience like the burning thing. Or maybe he did. There was apparently a lot of shit he’d forgotten and according to that hot grim reaper from before he’d died like eight times already. Maybe one of them was poison. 

Whatever. He didn’t take the stupid cup. They weren’t supposed to and he didn’t want to go back to that moment anyway, even to change it. He didn’t want to see Sazed smiling nervously as he wished him luck on that final performance again. He knew why he was nervous now. It never stuck out before, he'd been too focused on what he'd done once it was over to think of Sazed. Sure, it’d be satisfying to go and punch that asshole in his dumb wood elf face, but he’d probably just cut to the point then and kill him outright.

So instead he made a joke about it being the best possible time line for Taako, and then later refused Phandalin because that wasn’t even half his fault like Glamour Springs had been. 

And then he got to stop thinking about it, because they were almost killed by a giant worm again and that time would’ve been for good. 

But they survived, and the red robe asshole showed up and wanted to know if they trusted him and something about his voice sounded familiar when he broke down, but Taako was done with thinking about things. Instead he ignored that and ignored the guilt pounding in the back of his skull and went into town and joked with Paloma and apologized to Ren. There was something about these people he liked. Something he felt like he could understand but not put into words. Being trapped by time struck a chord with him in a strange way. 

By the time they finally left refuge with Avi, it was late as fuck and Taako was so fucking ready to hand the relic over and get some goddamn sleep. Everyone was quiet as they went up to the base, especially Magnus. Taako figured he probably saw some equally disturbing life altering shit from that stupid cup in his hands as well. Whatever, it wasn’t his place to pry. 

When they got up to the base Taako almost didn’t notice that Angus was still waiting for them in the hanger. Mainly because instead of the kid running up to them like usual he was curled up asleep against a wall. No one else seemed to realize he was there, so with a sigh Taako went over and shook him awake.

“Hey, up and at em bubula, pretty sure this ain’t your room,” he said. Angus quickly blinked awake, seeming both relieved and surprised to see him. His ears weren't covered up by his hat, and they hadn't been when Taako has seen him earlier that day either (god, had it really only been one day?). Something about that pleased him more than he wanted to think about. 

“You’re back. Did you get the relic?” the kid asked, scrambling to his feet. He still looked half asleep, which was honestly how Taako felt. 

“Fuckin course we did. Now come on so we can get this bullshit cup destroyed so I can get on that shut eye as well,” he said. 

The destruction of the time cup was exactly like the rest of the relics, and Taako didn’t pay much attention. No one really seemed to be. Magnus was still off in his own head, and Merle was explaining all the ways shit had gone wrong when the director said it must’ve been easier than she expected. 

Taako tried to ignore the terrified and sick look on Angus’s face when he went on about their multiple deaths, but the rest of the shit going on in his mind wasn’t all that better. 

After what felt like another eternity they were all free to go. Magnus and Merle almost immediately went off in separate directions, neither in the way of their dorm. Taako didn’t question it. He wasn’t going to complain about being free from those chucklefucks for five minutes. 

As he walked away from the Director’s office though Angus stayed at his side. He could excuse it as the fact that all the dorms were in the relative same direction from here, and the kid obviously had plans to go to sleep as well. 

“You died,” Angus mumbled after a few moments of silence. Taako couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed enough to sigh. 

“Yep,” he said simply. That was the long and short of it after all. They’d died a hell of a lot. 

“But you’re still here?” he asked, like he couldn’t quite believe it and Taako couldn’t fault him for that. Most people didn't tend to stick around after dying. 

“Sure am.” He shouldn’t be, multiple times over, but he was. 

“I’m glad,” Angus said, and he sounded half asleep again. They’d reached his dorm, and Taako hadn’t even realized he’d gone out of his way to walk the kid back to his room. He was even more tired than he thought he guessed. 

“Go get some sleep kid, it’s been a long fucking day,” he said. Angus just nodded, heading into his room. 

“Mhmm, goodnight sir,” he mumbled. 

“Night,” Taako said before he closed the door. As soon as he did he turned around to head back to his room. He wasn’t lying to Angus, it really had been a long as fuck day. He wanted to head to his bed and get as much asleep as his mind would let him. Which probably wasn’t going to be much, but he’d take anything at this point. 

Getting to his dorm, Taako hung his cloak up on the rack by the door. “Someday you’ll be useful old friend,” he mumbled, joking to himself to try and shake off every sickening thought that clung to him. It didn’t really work, but it was something. 

And then he turned around and a figure on the couch stood up and cleared his throat and Taako probably should’ve seen this coming.

“Well we need to talk, don’t we? Because you boys, you’ve added quite a bit to your death count, haven’t you?” Kravitz asked, and Taako took a deep breath, resigning himself to the fact that he just wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight before speaking. 

“That one’s on me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...but not _too_ familiar. 
> 
> Well, I wanted to get one more chapter out before NaNoWriMo started, and I succeeded. Didn't quite manage to get a backlog like i wanted as well, so chapters might be a little sparse through the next month for this fic. On the other hand tho, i'm gonna be writing another Taako and Angus centered fic, so that'll be fun. 
> 
> I wanna say Taako died from poisoning at least once during the stolen century, because that's too good to have not happened. 
> 
> Also, I headcanon Sazed as a wood elf. Not a super popular headcanon probably, but [here's](http://kravkalackin.tumblr.com/post/166597955278/headcanon-sazed-was-also-an-elf-possibly-a) a post explaining why I like it. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy


	16. Slow Recovery

Taako didn’t take his hand off of the umbrastaff as he casually leaned back against the wall, not going any closer to the reaper now standing in his home. He didn’t look particularly hostile, and they had come to an agreement last time they’d seen each other, but Taako had also just died like, a fuckton of times. That was definitely against their arrangement. If he stuck by the door he could get a chance to run and alert the rest of the base if need be, since he was pretty damn sure he couldn't take this dude alone. 

God, he just wanted to take a fucking nap. 

“It is?” Kravitz asked, sounding like he had no idea if Taako was being serious or not. To be fair, a lot of people couldn’t figure that one out most of the time. 

“I mean, I didn’t kill anyone personally, if that’s what you’re asking. This time, at least. Huh, that’s actually new, not killing people,” he said, kind of getting a bit sidetracked with that thought. To his credit, Kravitz didn’t look as unsettled by that as most people tended to be by their casual body count.

“Taako, I am sorry to barge into your home, which is apparently on the moon, still kind of unpacking that one by the way, so late at night but I do need an explanation over what happened in that town,” he said and Taako sighed. Nodding he walked over to one of the chairs Magnus had made that was pushed into a corner, motioning at Kravitz to sit back down. He did, but he still looked pretty stiff and uncomfortable. 

“Right, right so Refuge. Uh, before I start, gotta ask you to do something, just to know how much I can physically tell you,” Taako said. Kravitz still looked confused but nodded none the less. At least he was being a good sport about all of this. 

“Voidfish. Bureau of Balance, the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, can you repeat the shit I just said?” he said, and it only served to make the reaper look even more confused but he nodded once again. 

“Uh, voidfish, bureau of balance and the phoenix fire gauntlet?” he tried, and Taako breathed a sigh of relief at that. That made shit a hell of a lot easier. 

“Sweet, hell yeah. You’re dead or something right? That helps a lot,” he said, relaxing somewhat. He still had a tight grip on the umbrastaff, because like fuck was he gonna let his guard down all the way. Still, he didn't seem like he was gonna try anything, and Taako felt like he had a pretty good judge of character after spending so long on the road. Gotta be able to figure out who’s gonna try to screw you over before they can after all (except he apparently wasn’t perfect at that. He didn’t realize what Sazed was going to do, or even afterwards. He’d been completely fucking fooled then and that had been someone he thought was his _friend_ so like hell was he gonna let himself make the same mistake twice). 

“I mean, yes I’m dead technically? What does that have to do with anything?” Kravitz asked, and right, Taako was supposed to be explaining shit. 

So he did. Maybe it was against company protocol or whatever, but he was more concerned with keeping himself and the people of Refuge from getting fucking banished to the shadow realm or whatever it was that happened to mortality rulebreakers.

When he finished explaining everything about the relics and the bureau’s whole operation and the way the chalice was used to reset the day over and over again Kravitz was quiet for a long time, his chin resting in his hands. 

“Taako, that’s… I’m not going to lie, that’s a _lot_ you just told me,” he said, and Taako shrugged, fighting back a yawn. He had no idea what time it was, all those resets in Refuge had totally thrown him off. It felt pretty late though, and no matter what the time he was tired as fuck. 

“Yeah, I mean everything about me’s a lot though, so I understand,” he joked, proud of himself at the slight smile that made flash across Kravitz’s face. 

“It certainly is,” he mumbled before sitting up some. “Well, these are extenuating circumstances if I’ve ever seen them, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m going to have to talk to my uh, higher up, as it were. This isn’t something we can just _ignore,_ but the fact that you’ve destroyed the item causing the damage is something to consider.” 

“Hey, like, it was just a little girl you know. She was only trying to keep everyone safe,” Taako said, because he didn’t want this to come back on June. He was a little relieved when Kravitz nodded, looking like he understood at least somewhat. 

“There are rules, but like I said, these relics do change things,” he said, standing up. “I’m sorry, I’m being called back to the astral plane. I’ll talk to my Queen about what you’ve told me tonight. If it’s alright with you though, I would like to be able to continue this conversation some other time,” Kravitz explained and Taako nodded, a little bit relieved because he was still exhausted. Kravitz actually wasn’t a hard person to be around, surprisingly enough, if he was more awake he might've been disappointed as the sudden need to leave.

“Not a problem my dude, apparently you can just let yourself in at any time. Not sure how much the bureau will like that for security reasons, but I won’t tell,” he said, standing up as well. “Might wanna be careful though, you’re lucky you got me and not one of the other two doofuses, pretty sure those numbskulls would attack first and ask questions later,” he added. 

“I _did_ take Merle’s arm off, can’t entirely blame him for that,” Kravitz mumbled and Taako nearly laughed at that. “Um, it might be safer if I didn’t just pop in unannounced again though, you do have a point. Do you have a stone of farspeech I could see?” he asked and Taako pulled the small stone out from where it was hanging on a string underneath his shirt and handed it over. 

“Here you are handsome,” he said with a smile and even tired it was still pretty funny seeing the very good looking grim reaper get flustered. He quickly attuned the two stones before handing Taako’s back to him and taking a few steps away before summoning a scythe in his hand. Taako felt his grip tighten on the umbrastaff on instinct, but Kravitz only tore one of those rifts in space open before dispelling the weapon again. 

“Well, um, until next time I suppose?” he said, and Taako had to keep himself from laughing at how awkward and shit he was being right now. 

“Later bonedog,” he said, and then the rift was closed and Taako was _finally_ alone again. 

Before anything else could possibly come up, Magnus or Merle coming back or some random ass motherfucker knocking on their door or _anything,_ Taako rushed back to his room, locking the door behind him for good measure. As soon as that was taken care of he dropped the umbrastaff and collapsed onto his bed. 

He was out as soon as he closed his eyes. 

When he woke up it was pretty late into the next day. No one had bothered to wake him up because the bureau was actually a decent enough place to know not to fucking bother them the day after a mission. It was pretty appreciated, especially this time. Taako just wanted to be alone and not think about any weird personal revelations he might’ve had while on that job. 

Apparently Merle and Magnus felt the same way. Merle he did catch sight of when he finally did leave his room, and he seemed his normal oblivious cheerful self, but he didn’t bother to stick around. Taako hadn’t seen Magnus at all since they left the director’s office the night before, but that wasn’t his business. He’d seemed pretty shaken up by whatever he’d seen from the Chalice, there was a moment even where Taako thought he was going to take it, so he could understand the dude wanting some space. 

There was only one issue this welcomed solitude brought though. He didn’t have to deal with people, and he didn’t want to deal with people, which was good. 

But he was also left completely alone in his empty moon apartment. With an empty kitchen. An empty kitchen he could cook in and not have to worry about anyone dying from said cooking anymore. 

He guessed that wasn’t a problem per say. He had missed cooking after all, that was why he forced himself to do some during Candlenights. He’d brought some magic salt shaker that could detect poison recently too, because that seemed like a good failsafe.   
It was still a good thing to have, because apparently he couldn’t trust people. Well, he already knew that, but it was certainly reiterated for him now loud and clear. 

Leaving his room, Taako headed to the kitchen. He was hungry anyway, and he didn’t want to deal with all the idiots in the cafeteria. It wasn’t a big deal, he could just make something simple for himself, relax some, try and get back into that old groove he used to have in the kitchen. He wasn't going to let some jealous asshole take this away from him anymore. 

Looking in their fridge and cabinets, they didn’t have like, a super great selection of ingredients. That was fine though, he wasn’t going to make anything big. He just wanted to be able to cook for himself again without having to worry he’d end up dead in a ditch in an hour afterwards. 

Let’s see, chicken? Nah, he wasn’t in the mood (wasn’t ready to touch that yet). There was some beef stuffed in the freezer, he wasn’t sure which one of the others had brought it but they’d probably forgotten about it. If they didn’t, they weren’t going to use it for anything decent anyway. Taako could scrounge up the stuff for a stir-fry. Something simple, just throwing whatever ingredients he had on hand into a pan with some homemade sauce. 

Taako managed to find pretty much everything he needed with little effort. He was tempted to transmute some of the things he didn’t have, but eh, it would be fine without some of the pepper types he would’ve liked anyway. 

He hadn’t killed anyone with his transmutation, but he guessed that didn’t mean he still couldn’t fuck up. It was something he could try later. No need to go diving in all at once or whatever. 

Taako had just gotten the meat in the pan when he heard a knock at his door and cursed. Maybe Magnus had actually managed to lock himself out somehow despite their being a numbered keypad and that’s why he hadn’t seen him in so long. It was definitely something he’d do. Turning the heat on the stove down and moving the beef away from the center he went to answer the door.

“Good evening sir,” Angus said and yeah, no. Of course. He really should’ve seen that one coming. 

“Don’t tell me we had magic scheduled today. Listen Ango sorry but cha boy needs some R&R after yesterday,” he said, and he was pretty sure Angus was smart enough to realized that this wasn’t Taako trying to get out of lessons. Normally he would be down but today was Taako day. 

“Oh no that’s not it, I’m sure you’re very tired after everything yesterday and we actually haven’t had a magic lesson planned in a while,” Angus said and oh okay, that was a relief. “I just uh, wanted to see how you were doing today,” he added. 

Taako so wanted to be annoyed at the kid for showing up like that was a legitimate reason to drop in unannounced. But Angus had been all freaked about the fact that they died and yeah okay, Taako couldn’t really blame him for wanting to stop by. 

“Fucking exhausted, that’s how we do today my dude,” he said, because that was the truth. He was tired as fuck but honestly the worst of it was starting to ease up some. 

“That makes a lot of sense, you um, you went through a whole lot in Refuge,” Angus said, and yeah there was that tinge of fear back in him again. Taako guessed there wasn’t much he could do for that, they died and everyone knew it and that was just how it was. 

“Something smells good,” Angus said suddenly, and right shit, he was in the middle of cooking. 

“Yeah, just making a little something something,” Taako said, stepping away from the door and heading back over to the stove to check on the meat. They still seemed good, but he quickly stirred it so that they could get cooked more evenly. He didn’t bother shutting the door as he walked away, and Angus took that as a sign that he was allowed to step into the dorm. Taako wasn’t sure if that was actually what he meant or not, but he wasn’t going to comment on it. 

“Who are you cooking for?” he asked. Taako started cutting up the vegetables to add to the stir-fry as he answered. 

“Just dinner for myself homie. Why, you hungry?” He’d already fed Angus before and he was fine. Now he didn’t even have anything to worry about, he was free and in the clear when it came to cooking.

“Um, I thought you only cooked for people you didn’t care about,” Angus said, and Taako was about to explain when he continued. “You still cook for yourself?” he asked, and when Taako looked over at him there was a look of concern there that he really didn’t need. 

“What? No, no worries like that Ango. So remember what I told you about why I stopped cooking? How my magic screwed up and made food into uh, anti-food pretty much?” he asked, and Angus nodded slowly. 

“Well, I found out wasn’t really my fault. Get this, it was sabotage. You know, if you were around you probably would’ve been able to figure it out real fast, what with the world’s greatest detective stitch you got going on. My old partner who helped me run the show, he was jealous or something, so I guess he was trying to kill me but the crowd ate the food before I did so bad luck on that one,” he explained. He tried to sound as lighthearted as possible while he spoke, gesturing with his spatula before going to mix up the stir fry some more. It was almost done, just needed to sear a bit more and maybe some extra seasonings. 

“Wow sir, that must be a huge relief,” Angus said, and Taako guessed it was. Yeah, it was definitely a relief. 

Sure, all those people still died from eating this food, and it was still technically his fault, but at least he wasn’t the one to put the poison in there. He had that much going for him. 

“Yep, so I’m in the clear to cook again,” he said, giving the food one last stir before turning off the heat. “Now, do you want some or not, because this is a limited time offer,” he added and Angus quickly nodded. 

“Oh, yes, if that’s alright with you, I haven't had dinner yet,” he said, and Taako scooped the stir fry onto two plates, shoving one at Angus before getting some drinks. He’d made enough for their to be leftovers, which there were going to be less of now, but whatever. He probably needed the practice of giving people food again. 

And it was safe. There was nothing to worry about and even if there wasn’t he hadn’t transmuted a goddamn thing. He’d seasoned it with his magic salt shaker even and that proved it was good. 

Even still, there was a twinge of panic when Angus started eating, and he had to force the first couple of bites into his own mouth. 

“Taako, this is _really good!”_ Angus said, and Taako just shrugged, making another couple of bites. 

“Eh, was missing a couple of ingredients, could be better,” he said. It was pretty good for getting back into the swing of it though he guessed. Could definitely be worse, like, poisoned or something. 

“You’re a really good chef Taako, I’m glad you’re able to cook again,” Angus said, which yeah, of fucking course he was. Even rusty as shit he was still better than anyone else on this fake moon for sure. 

“Yeah well keep it to yourself for now, I may be cooking again but I don’t need word to spread. I’m not about to fucking cater the entire goddamn moon base because people won’t stop clamoring for my gifts,” he said, and Angus just smiled and nodded. 

“Of course sir, not a problem,” he said, nearly finished with the stir fry at this point and damn the kid ate fast. Taako had to keep telling himself he didn’t need to look for any signs of him getting sick or the food reacting badly. He had checked multiple ways and he’d never even done anything to begin with.

“So, is that what the chalice tempted you with?” Angus asked after a long moment of silence. Taako blinked, looking up from his food. “Merle talked about how the temporal chalice tried to tempt you to change the past, did it show you what really happened with your cooking show?” he explained and oh, yeah. He’d barely been listening while Merle explained everything that happened down in Refuge. Of course Angus would put two and two together like that. 

“Yeah, but like fuck was I gonna do that. Got my conscious clear already, sure I still can’t like, go back to my actual show and shit but eh, this is a pretty alright gig too I guess,” he said, and Angus chuckled a little at that. 

“Saving the world is second to a cooking show?” he asked, clearly amused. 

“You never saw my show, kid,” Taako said, pointing his fork at him for emphasis. 

“I suppose you’re right,” Angus said. There was another small stretch of quiet while Taako finished up his plate. There, ate and not dead. Shit was good. 

“I wonder what the chalice would’ve tempted me with,” Angus said, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that. 

“Aren’t you like six? I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to have crippling regrets for evil magic items to take advantage of yet,” he said. Sure, Angus was a weird kid doing way more than he should at his age, but he was still a fucking kid. 

“I’m ten Taako, but I guess I don’t really have anything like that yet,” he said. 

“Yet? Don’t say that like it’s a fucking milestone to work towards,” Taako told him, and Angus smiled sheepishly. 

“Of course sir,” he said and Taako just rolled his eyes. Why did he stop his nice quiet Taako Time in order to let this kid hang around again? “Maybe it would’ve let me meet my parents,” Angus said and god fucking damn it. 

“I mean, probably if that’s what you want,” he said, not too thrilled at that whole parents topic being opened again. Sure, Angus didn’t seem to give a shit, but it still kinda felt like something Taako could screw up if he said the wrong thing. He was surprised he hadn’t last time, and that Angus actually listened to his advice and quit the whole deal with hiding his ears. That didn’t mean he couldn’t fuck up this time though. 

“Oh, I don’t think I’d take it, if I actually had a choice that is and wasn’t taken by the thrall. I like how my life is,” he said, and Taako just nodded.

“Yeah, you pretty much got it made,” Taako said, getting up to start washing the bits of leftovers away and start washing the out dishes. “Hey, no freeloading allowed in this house. How’s the magic been going? Lemme see you use mage hand to put these dishes away,” he said, maybe changing the subject a bit. Angus didn’t point it out though, taking the plate Taako was holding up with mage hand and moving it into a cabinet. 

They just continued like that, Taako cleaning dishes and letting Angus pick them up and carefully maneuver them into their proper place. He’d pretty much mastered mage hand at this point, which wasn’t a surprise. Kid was smart. 

They didn’t talk, and Taako found himself getting into the rhythm easier than he expected. 

It wasn’t the day alone like he’d wanted, but it was nice. 

It was really nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my nano is going good, better than expected honestly, (the first two chapters are up [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12656475/chapters/28845021) if any of y'all are interested in more taako and angus bonding fics done by me) so I figured I'd get some of this fic written and posted while i'm on a hot streak. 
> 
> Also I am not a cook I do not know how to cook and yet I put myself in a situation where I'm writing a fucking chef and I do minimal research so please excuse me if everything taako cooks in this fic sounds butchered and horrible. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!


	17. Without Trust

Angus couldn’t help but feel calmer as he helped Taako put away the dishes from the meal they just ate. The elf was still here, alive and whatever had happened in Refuge seemed to be behind him, at least as far as Angus could tell. There was still a shiver of fear in the base of his gut whenever he thought about the fact that they _had_ all died, for real actual death. They wouldn’t have even known if they failed right away either. They would’ve been stuck waiting and waiting while the barrier to Refuge never came down, and the idea of not knowing was terrifying to Angus. 

That _wasn’t_ what happened though. They got out and were okay and Taako even seemed to be in better spirits than usual. It wasn't too hard to figure out that cooking was still a bit unnerving to him, but the fact that he was doing it again had to be an improvement, right? Knowing that it all hadn’t actually been his fault had to be a relief, even if there was some guilt there about not going back and stopping it anyway. 

They couldn’t have done that, and it would’ve been bad anyway. The grand relics couldn’t be used for good and that was just the way it was. They were lucky that someone at least had been trying to with the Temporal Chalice, but even then it had only ended up trapping everyone instead. There would’ve been some sort of backfire if Taako had tried to use it, if anything of them had, Angus was sure. 

He was trying not to think about any of that right now though, because things were alright and it wouldn’t help any to think about what might’ve happened. The temporal chalice was destroyed so no one could change that even if they wanted to. 

So instead he focused on the mage hand lifting the glasses Taako would give him into the cabinets. He’d gotten good at the spell, shaping it wasn’t an issue for him anymore and he couldn’t help but be glad for the opportunity to show off in front of Taako how much he’d improved. 

They were almost done with the dishes when the door to the dorm opened and Magnus walked in. Angus hadn’t seen him since they got back from Refuge, and when he looked at the man now he seemed kinda distracted, not even noticing the two in the kitchen for a moment. 

“Oh, hey guys,” he said, seeming to come out of whatever thoughts had been filling up his head before when he caught sight of them.

“Sup homie,” Taako said, handing Angus another plate to float up to the cabinet. 

“Oh ya know. Did you cook? Something smells great,” Magnus said, not actually answering the question and heading over to the fridge. That was actually something Angus was fine with not pressing him on. He couldn't imagine everyone could brush off dying over and over again that easily. He at least looked carefree as he grabbed the still steamy Tupperware full of what was left of the stir fry. “I’m taking this,” he announced, starting to eat right out of the container. Angus noticed the tense look on Taako’s face for a moment before he seemed to take a breath and cool himself down, and yeah, definitely wasn’t quite over everything yet. That made sense though, it would take time.

“Fucking rude my man, ain’t no one gave you permission for that,” he said, but he didn’t actually try and take it back from him or anything. 

“Too bad, your cooking's great and I’m eating it,” Magnus said simply. 

“Yes, both of those things are true, great job,” Taako grumbled, handing Angus another plate. He was pretty sure Taako wasn’t actually annoyed with Magnus. If anything he was worried and trying to cover it up. It was getting easier the longer he knew the elf to figure out what he was feeling, as well as he managed to ask it most of the time. 

“Mhmm, you two are cute,” Magnus said, and Angus was kind of surprised by that comment. He could tell that Taako definitely was. 

“I mean, yeah I’m fucking adorable, don’t know about the kid here but I guess that’s your call,” Taako said flippantly. 

“No, I mean like the doing magic and cooking together and stuff. It’s cute, Angus you’re like a little mini-Taako,” Magnus explained. Angus couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed by that. He did look up to Taako a lot, and he tried to let him know that, but it was different with someone else pointing it out. Taako just huffed, glancing over at Angus before crossing his arms.

“I mean can you blame the kid? Who _wouldn’t_ want to be like me?” he said, but Magnus shrugged and started heading back to his room, still holding the container of stir fry. 

“Probably a lot of people, anyway thanks for the food,” he said before closing his door and Angus was left alone with Taako again.

“Freeloader,” Taako grumbled. They'd managed to finish cleaning and putting away all the dishes at that point and Angus wasn’t sure what to do. It would probably be best to leave.

“Um, thanks again for the dinner sir,” Angus said after a moment, because he didn’t know what else to do. Taako shrugged, seeming to get over his annoyance with Magnus rather quickly.

“Eh, apparently I’m gonna end up feeding everyone again whether I want to or not. Doesn’t hurt to get a head start,” he said and Angus guessed that made sense. 

“Oh uh, so you know how you mentioned magic earlier? We haven’t had a lesson in a while and I understand if you’d like a few more days to rest from your last mission but maybe we could start doing that again? Only if you want to of course,” he said, a little nervous. He was afraid that because of the break they'd stop or something, but Taako didn’t look bothered by the request at all. 

“Yeah sure thing my dude. Gonna take you up on those couple more days of rest though, fucking beat. But yeah gimme like, three days? Yeah, three days sounds good, we can have your next magic lesson then,” he said and Angus couldn’t help but be excited to hear that. 

“Alright sir, thank you!” he said and Taako waved away the thanks, and that turned into him actually starting to shoo Angus out of the apartment. 

“Mhmm, sure thing my dude, now get going Taako is gonna take every moment of these three days of relaxation to its fullest potential, ya here?” he said and Angus nodded, still smiling. 

“Of course, I’ll see you afterwards then,” he said, leaving the apartment without Taako having to push him anymore. “Later Taako,” he said happily, and Taako nodded, waiting until after he spoke to actually close the door. 

“Right, later bubula,” he said simply, shutting the door. 

Heading back to his room Angus figured he could try to relax some over the next few days too. Sure, he could always help try to look for the next relic, but they had so few left and they’d just found the cup. He figured it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to take a break from something that wasn’t technically his job anyway. 

The only real problem with this plan was that Angus didn’t really know how to relax. He always felt like he had to be doing something. Something to make himself useful or something to just keep him from getting bored. He liked to try to overlap those things as much as possible, so the things that kept him from getting bored also made him useful. 

Right now though, he didn’t really have anything to do. That wasn’t too bad at that exact moment, because it’d been getting late and he was able to go back to his own room and get ready for bed for the night. 

It was a bit of a problem the next day, when he woke up without anything to do and at least three days to wait around. He could already tell that trying to ‘relax’ was going to leave him dreadfully bored. He wasn't sure how Taako did it. 

But he guessed he could relax in the way _he_ liked to. He wasn’t sure if more people would consider it relaxing at all, but he hadn’t gotten a chance to get his sleuth on much since the whole umbrella incident. He could do something simple, not at all life threatening to keep his mind active with that kind of stuff. He needed to keep his skills sharp if he was to keep being the world’s greatest detective after all. 

The first thing was finding something to actually investigate. That was harder than most people would think, because everyone tended to try to hide the fact that secrets were happening at all. It didn’t take him too long walking around the base some talking to people before something interesting came up. 

Avi had noticed that Merle had started going down to Neverwinter on personal trips quite a bit since a little before refuge. He wouldn’t ever say why though, and Avi wasn’t going to pry. Merle seemed like a straight up dude and he always came back and never seemed to stir up any trouble down there. So if he wanted to chill out planet side when they weren't using the canons for anything that was all cool by him. 

Still, it seemed like a simple enough mystery for Angus to solve, definitely something he could get done before his next magic lesson with Taako. 

Angus realized the only fault in this plan would be if Merle didn’t actually go down planet side in the next three days. On those first two days that was exactly the case. He managed to entertain himself in other ways, practicing his spells for when he and Taako started up again. Looking around for other little mysteries around the bureau. He found some rather familiar silverware set pieces in the cafeteria, and scattered around the fantasy Costco, but he didn’t comment on them to anyone. 

Finally on that last day before magic lessons was to start up again he saw Merle head down to the planet. He carefully listened in on the conversation, and now that he knew how to operate the canons he waited until Avi left on a break to sneak in and send himself down right after Merle. He was still pretty nervous about working the machine on his own, but he’d done it once and no one had died (from it, at least) so it would probably be fine. 

The landing was maybe a little rougher than when Avi did it. Or well, it was a lot rougher, but he didn’t get hurt and nothing else seemed to get destroyed. Well, besides one tree, but there were lots of trees around, they were in a park. 

He found Merle easily enough, but he guessed he was still a little disoriented from the trip down because Merle found him almost as fast. Angus knew the dwarf wasn’t the most fond of him, so he wasn’t _entirely_ sure if the threatening was a goof or not. Luckily he didn’t have to find out because the mystery he’d been trying to solve came barreling into them.

Merle had kids, which wasn’t too surprising considering his age and stuff. They seemed nice enough, even if uh, Mookie’s style of playing wasn’t exactly Angus’s. Mavis definitely seemed like someone he could get along with though. 

Angus felt pretty sore by the time they were walking back towards the docks to send Merle’s kids back home. He was pretty sure there were going to be bruises from that failed attempt at wrestling. Still, Angus ignored those and nodded solemnly at Merle's request to keep them a secret, and much faster when he started threatening him again. Which, okay maybe the threat was needed because he’d already been considering asking Taako if he knew anything but now he definitely wasn’t. 

He’d been behind with Merle when the cart had started rolling towards Mavis and Mookie. He had no idea what to do. He just started running forward with Merle, trying to think of some spell he could use to help them or do _anything._

And then both of them came to a halt when the whole cart got blasted away from the two. Angus kept running forward after a brief moment, because they were still so far away and he couldn’t tell if they were okay from the way they stood stock still from the shock of the commotion around them. If they were hurt though Merle could heal them. It was going to be fine and just what in the world had caused that explosion?

Glancing over in the direction the blast had come from, Angus managed to catch sight of a red robed figure hidden in the docks right before it disappeared. From what he could tell, it wasn’t looking at him or Mavis and Mookie, but at Merle. 

A red robe. 

He blinked and it was gone though, so he continued over to where Mavis and Mookie were. He could think about that later, and he definitely would. The two seemed to be getting over their shock. Mookie actually seemed hesitant to start picking up some of the now spilled candy all over the ground from the store window got smashed. He quickly got over that as he began picking up more and more candy and nothing else bad happened. 

After Merle caught up with them he did a double check over his children before ushering them all away from the mess and towards the ship they needed leave on again. The rest of the walk was quiet, with the two other children walking with them that time. Angus didn’t say anything as Merle hugged his kids maybe a little bit longer than he normally would have before sending them back home. 

It was quiet as they waited for a pod to come down to pick them both up. Maybe Angus should’ve let it go but now that things had calmed down it was the only thing he could think about. 

“Sir, did you see what had created that blast?” he asked, because there was a chance that he hadn’t. The red robe had been looking at him but Angus hadn't seen it he'd been looking back. Merle seemed to stir from whatever thought he’d been wrapped up in at his question. 

“Huh? Oh yeah sure, sure, saw the whole thing,” he said a little absently. 

“So, you saw the red robe?” Angus clarified. Sometimes Merle just kind of went along with things after all. 

“Oh yeah, that fella, sure did,” Merle said, and they could see the pod coming down now. The two climbed inside and Angus was kind of taken back by how calm Merle was being about this. The red robes were evil and what happened didn’t make any sense and was kind of freaking him out. 

“Why did he save them? It’s really good that he did but why was he even _there?_ The red robes are so dangerous, and that one was so close,” Angus said and Merle shrugged and honestly Angus wasn’t even surprised by that reaction anymore. 

“Listen kid, I don’t know what that dude was doing there being all spooky and spying on us or whatever. He’s a weird dude, but all I know is he saved my kids, so hey, no skin off my back this time, no skin off his,” he said and slowly Angus nodded. He could understand why Merle was grateful to the red robe right now. Angus was too, but it still, it didn’t make sense to him. 

Well, it was just something he was going to have to make sense of later. 

——

Taako could tell that there was something up with the kid. 

Whatever though, it wasn’t his position to pry. Angus had done him a solid and left him alone for three whole days. Taako had made sure the rest of the bureau had also left him alone for those three days, and now he was refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to do a magic lesson. It wasn’t his fault if Angus didn’t seem to be able to focus on the spell Taako was trying to teach him. Disguise self, pretty simple first level, should be able to get a handle on it fairly easily. 

Or it would be, if his mind was in the right place. 

“Alright Ango, time to spill,” he said finally, because maybe it wasn’t his position to pry but it wasn’t like Taako cared about respecting people’s privacy. Besides if he couldn’t concentrate then the lesson was a waste of time and Taako was not about wasting his time. Or he was very about it, but only on shit he wanted to do. 

“Um, what do you mean sir?” Angus asked, seeming surprised by the question. 

“Don’t ‘what do you mean sir’ me. Your head’s been all wrapped up in something that’s obviously not my awesome magic lesson,” he said. He could see Angus deflate a little at the accusation, so Taako felt like he wasn’t wrong here. 

“It’s nothing, I’m paying loads of attention to your lesson, I promise,” Angus insisted but Taako wasn’t buying it in the slightest. 

“Mhmm, sure you’ve been paying like, an amount of attention. You’re still thinking about something else bubula, so what’s going on in that noggin of yours?” he asked again. He could see Angus hesitating, clearly weighing the pros and cons of telling him about whatever it was that was bothering him. 

“Um, okay but you gotta not tell anyone? I’m still uh, piecing it together,” Angus said and Taako nodded. 

“My dude, not talking to people is my specialty,” he said, leaning back against the couch to get comfy while Angus started explaining. 

“Alright, so I was down in Neverwinter yesterday, with uh, with Merle-” he started but Taako cut him off there. 

“Man, what is he bothering you or something? Ango don’t take the shit he says to heart, thought you knew better than that,” he said, Angus quickly shaking his head. 

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that. Although he did threaten to beat me to death, I don’t think he’s actually going to do it,” he said, and Taako relaxed back down a little. Merle teased the kid a lot, and yeah they were all joking but he guessed it was kind of important that Angus actually knew it was a joke, most of the time at least. 

“But yeah, we were down there and something went wrong and this huge cart started barreling towards his- uh,” Angus quickly cut himself off there, looking around the dorm like he was afraid someone was gonna come out and attack him. 

“A cart started barreling towards some kids. Just some random kids that happened to be on the docks at the time,” he continued, and yeah okay that was suspicious but Taako had a feeling that wasn’t the point of this. “It got blasted out of the way though, if it hadn’t I’m pretty sure they would’ve died, or at least seriously hurt,” he added. 

“Well that’s good! A couple of totally random kids didn’t die, great news I guess,” Taako said, still not sure what was going on here. 

“Taako, the thing that blasted the cart away. It was a _red robe._ I saw it, right before it disappeared, and Merle did too. I guess it couldn't been like, a normal person who happened to be wearing a red robe, but that blast had been super powerful and they also disappeared into thin air,” Angus said and oh. Well, that would explain why the kid was all worked up about this. 

“I mean, we’ve had a couple encounters with the red robe before, I guess it’s not a surprise he’s watching us?” Taako said but Angus was shaking his head. 

“No, that makes sense, as soon as you all said you met a red robe I figured they’d been spying on you. What I don’t understand is why did he _save_ them? The red robes are pure evil, why would it protect Merle’s- er, those kids like that,” Angus said, and well at least Taako was pretty sure what he was trying to talk around with those kids. That was probably why Merle threatened to beat him to death. Whatever, Taako could keep a secret, even if it was a dumb think to not tell anyone. 

“Man, I don’t know, that red robe is, well he’s a weird fucking dude,” Taako said with a shrug. 

“That’s what Merle said,” Angus said. 

“Listen Ango, don’t even freak about this. I don’t know what the dude’s deal is, but like if he wanted to attack us and try to steal the relics he could’ve tried by now. I mean, he had the chance to when we had the sash _and_ the cup, so I don’t even know what his deal is,” Taako said, because he really didn’t get what was with that. He didn’t understand why the thing seemed to single out him sometimes too. Well, it probably had something to do with the umbrella he stole off of his friend or whatever. He hadn't seemed too thrilled when they told him about that. 

“Wait, you saw the red robe in Refuge too?” Angus asked, and Taako couldn’t help but flinch at that. He was pretty sure no one had mentioned it to the director when they got back. He wasn’t sure why but he kinda felt like that was something they were trying to keep on the down low. 

“I mean, yeah? But it was just more cryptic bullshit, asking if we used the cup, saying he was proud of us for not using it? Having some sort of breakdown and mumbling about how he can’t do this anymore, we don’t trust him…” Taako trailed off as he realized he’d been saying all of that out loud and Angus was staring at him like he was insane. “Uh, like I said, he’s a real fucking weird dude,” he added quickly. 

“Yeah, that uh, that does sound weird,” Angus said, and Taako was pretty sure his mind was trying to piece shit together like it always was. “So, he wants you to trust him?” he asked, and Taako shrugged. 

“He asked if we trusted him and we said fuck no and he freaked out, I don’t know,” he said. He’d honestly been trying not to think too much about the red robe. As long as they got the relics destroyed and shit it wouldn’t matter what he did after all. 

“Maybe he saved them to try to earn some trust,” Angus muttered. 

“Makes as much sense as anything,” Taako said. It still looked like Angus wasn’t quite satisfied with that, which wasn’t a surprise. The kid was fucking insatiable when it came to knowing shit sometimes. 

“Hey, Ango, this is probably something you should let go,” he said, because he was pretty sure this was not a good thing to go stirring up. “Like, trying to investigate the red robes or whatever it is that’s going through your head right now would probably be a pretty bad idea. You said yourself that they're like, mad dangerous,” Taako told him. From the quick flash of guilt that passed over the kid’s face investigating the red robe was exactly what he was thinking of doing.

“I wasn’t going to-” Angus started, but Taako guessed he saw the unimpressed look on his face and switched, “I’m not going to investigate the red robe. I mean, I’ve already looked through all of the information we had on them when looking for stuff on the relics and your umbrastaff anyway. There wouldn’t even be anything else for me to find,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed as he went on. Well, better to be disappointed than dead. 

“Yeah okay, and now that you got that out of your system are you good to go back to the magics now?” Taako asked. Angus quickly nodded, and Taako was pretty sure it wasn’t completely done, but as long as he didn’t do anything dangerous it was fine. 

Taako wasn’t sure when he’d taken such an invested interest in keeping Angus safe, but that was just how it was now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's 6am and i'm very tired but i've gotten this far so i'mma just go all the way and post the chapter now. nano's doing good, managed to get lots writing done, here's a thing. 
> 
> as always thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy


	18. Shopping Distractions

Taako had been hoping that Angus would actually listen to him and not go looking into any creepy, powerful, confusing but definitely deadly red robes. He’d said he wouldn’t, and technically Taako didn’t have any proof that he was, but he could _tell._

It was so fucking obvious, in the way Angus would close a notebook just a little too fast when Taako approached, or the way he’d gloss over certain things when blabbering on about the random stuff he’d been researching, or the way he’d dismiss him when ask what was on his mind when he seemed to get particularly spacey. It was a fucking open book honestly, Taako could tell when some nerd was trying to keep something from him. It was like he’d seen it a million times. 

(There was a weird familiarity there that he couldn’t quite place and he wasn’t going to try to.)

Taako considered confronting him about it. Kid was obviously not listening to him, so as his magic teacher or whatever he figured he had a right to tell the kid to cut that shit. 

But what Angus did wasn’t his responsibility. He’d already done his piece, told the brat to stay out of it and if he wasn’t gonna listen that wasn’t Taako’s problem. He doubted he'd be able to find anything anyway. World’s greatest detective or not, he got the feeling that if the red robe didn’t want to be found then he wouldn’t be. 

So it was pretty much a non-issue. Angus could look into it all he wanted, he wasn’t going to find anyway. If he did find something, well chances were he’d tell Taako first anyway, he seemed to do that with everything else after all. It’d be fine. 

Besides, he couldn’t think about this right now anyway. Like, he didn’t enjoy thinking about the red robe at all if he could help it. It left him feeling uneasy and uncertain in ways he couldn’t explain and didn’t have the slightest bit of interest in analyzing.

Right now in particular though he _really_ couldn’t think about it. Mainly because he was trying to figure out how to solve that other giant pressing issue currently fucking with his life. 

It’d been a good two weeks since he talked to the grim reaper about their multiple new deaths and the fate of all of Refuge, and he hadn’t heard from the dude since. Sure, Taako didn’t know how time worked over in the astral plane, and two weeks was probably nothing to a functionally immortal keeper of life and death, but Taako was getting _impatient._ One, because he wasn’t so cool with the uncertainty of his and everyone else’s fates being left all up in the air like it was, and two because he hated waiting other people to make the first move. He swore, if you gave most people a chance they’d wait a fucking century before doing anything. Taako was not about that life, he had things to do. 

So, he wasn’t too sure on the exact protocol when it came to calling up some hot death dude, but chance were no one else knew either. Couldn't get in trouble for breaking rules that didn't exist. 

Turning over the stone of farspeech in his hand one last time, he finally connected it to the frequency the reaper had set for him. The worst he could do was not answer after all. He didn’t seem like the kind of dude to throw Taako in ghost jail for bothering him after all, he had plenty of other excuses to do that if he wanted to.

“Yo, Kravitz my dude, you there?” he asked into the stone, flopping back into his bed some more as he spoke. There was a stretch of silence and Taako was about ready to chalk it up as the dude too busy to come to the stone when he heard movement on the other end. 

“Taako?” Kravitz’s voice came through, sounding beyond confused. Which was probably fair, he figured a lot of people didn’t voluntarily call on death, or at least, not quite like this. 

“Got it in one,” he said, and he swore he heard a laugh from through the stone. 

“I suppose that was an easy one. Is there a particular reason you’ve called?” Kravitz asked, and Taako couldn’t tell if he was actually clueless or not. Sure, he was tired as fuck when they first talked, but he swore Kravitz said they'd continue that conversation. 

“I mean, you said we’d talk about everything that went down in Refuge some more, and it’s been two weeks my guy. Was starting to think you’ve gone and forgotten all about me,” he said. 

“Has it really been that long?” Kravitz asked, and he actually sounded surprised there, so Taako guessed that answered one of his questions. Wasn’t too easy to keep track of time as an immortal soul in another plane. 

“Sure has,” Taako replied easily. It was a good thing he called or else he bet he would’ve been stuck waiting for like a fucking month or some shit.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting this long then. Work’s gotten away from me I suppose. As strange as this case of yours is we haven’t technically filed any bounties on it,” Kravitz explained, and okay, that was a bit of a relief. If they weren’t calling for anyone’s heads yet then maybe they wouldn’t start. Still, he should see this through to the end anyway to make sure. And besides, he kind of needed a distraction right now. 

“Not a problem. Now that I’ve got your attention though how about finishing that conversation?” he asked. 

“Yes, of course. I suppose I’m free, um, what time is it in the prime material plane right now? Do you have time on the moon?” Kravitz asked, and Taako gave a little snort of laughter at the second question. 

“Unfortunately yeah we do. It’s like, noon ish?” he said. 

“Okay, I should be free then around tomorrow evening if that’s alright with you,” Kravitz said, and Taako nodded even though the dude couldn’t see. 

“Fucking perfect. Meet me on the moon, uh, oh, okay they opened that new wine place I’ve been wanting to try out. Let’s meet at the Chug n’ Squeeze,” Taako said, and it was probably a dumb thing to do, but he needed that distraction. Plus, sue him, the dude was hot. 

“I- alright?” Kravitz said, sounding like he had no fucking idea what Taako was going on about now. Which he probably didn’t. 

“Sweet, later bone boy,” Taako said. 

“Bone bo-” Kravitz’s obvious question got cut off by Taako disconnecting their frequencies, and that was probably for the best. Okay, that was taken care of. One daunting issue trying to take over his life, done and done. Almost, he actually had to talk to Kravitz and make sure everything was good tomorrow, but the hardest part was always making the call. Now that that was over with the rest would be a cakewalk. 

A few hours later when Angus showed up for magic lessons Taako still hadn’t managed to figure out what he was going to do about that other, much less pressing, not really a problem, problem. So far the most he had was 'fuck, he hoped nothing.' 

“Good afternoon sir!,” Angus said as he came in, cheery as pretty much fucking always. 

“Sure is an afternoon pumpkin,” Taako said flippantly, letting him into the dorm and heading over to the couch. “So, magic, magic,” he mumbled. Angus had been progressing real fucking fast, Taako had been spot on when he figured he’d be a natural. He picked up the spells Taako taught him usually in a few sessions most of the time, and he was starting to learn more shit on his own as well. Taako wasn’t running out of shit to teach the kid or anything, but he was starting to consider moving him up to some higher level shit. 

“Hey, why don’t we skip the magic today,” he said, because why not. The kid was progressing fast enough that they could afford to kinda chill for once. It wasn't like they had a deadline for this either, the kid didn't need this stuff to go into battle or anything like that. They could relax today, and not only as an excuse for Taako to be lazy. Maybe he could get Angus to tell him about the bullshit he’d been looking into with the red robe finally. Get both things handled in one day, murder two birds with one rock or whatever. 

Angus’s shoulders instantly slumped at that though, but the kid nodded and stood up from the couch. He was trying not to look too disappointed and failing spectacularly. 

“Oh, yeah that’s alright. I’ll go, sorry for bothering you,” he said, and Taako had to roll his eyes heavily at that. Damn kid always making him have to spell everything out and shit. 

“Didn’t tell you to leave boychik. Listen, figured you could start learning some more upper level shit, nothing too fancy, and I need to go on a run for spell components at some point anyway. Plus, I could use some new duds,” he said. Time would tell if his meeting tomorrow would be of a date variety or not, but it didn’t hurt to dress the part anyway. Angus slowly nodded, still seeming kind of confused and for the greatest detective ever or whatever he sure seemed to not get shit right away a lot of the time. 

“Uh, okay. I guess you could go to Fantasy Costco,” he said, but Taako shook his head. 

“Nope, not dealing with that fucking bargain bin abomination, shopping is actually supposed to be enjoyable sometimes. Plus, I don’t need goddamn packs of 1500 for all of my shit,” he said, and Angus didn’t seem like he was going to argue with that.

“Yeah, okay that’s fair. Do you uh, want me to come with you?” he asked, and Taako shrugged, trying not to look like he cared one way or the other. He didn’t, but he did figure that Angus would come along. That was kinda the point after all. 

“You need to learn the spell components and shit. So I guess this is still a magic lesson, just laying off of the actual casting for today,” he said, and Angus nodded. 

“Alright sir, that sounds like fun,” he said, his excitement starting to come back. Which he guessed was marginally better than having him all sad and depressed and shit. 

“Yeah sure, let’s head out before I get lazy and decide fuck it,” he said, pushing himself up off of the couch. Yeah, Ango was definitely back to being his normal cheerful self as they went to the hanger and Avi sent them down to Neverwinter. Taako figures spell component shopping first, get that out of the kid’s system and all that. 

It didn’t take too long to find a shop specializing in spell components, Neverwinter was a big city with a lot of magic users. The kid’s eyes completely lit up as he took in all the weird shit inside. There were diamonds and gem encrusted chalices and goddamn ruby dust locked behind glass for more expensive spells, and Taako steered clear of those things. Sure, he had some decent money now, but not that fucking decent.

Whenever he’d see something particularly weird Angus would ask him what spell it could be used for, and nine times out of ten Taako’s answer was ‘not a fucking clue my dude.' It didn’t seem to bother the kid too much though, he’d just move on to inspecting some other weird bones or whatever. Taako did make a point of explaining everything he actually grabbed and what spells used them, because this was supposed to be like, a lesson and shit. 

So yeah, bat fur and coal for darkness, iron powder for enlarge and reduce, but a little bar of iron was needed for hold person. An actual fucking eyelash in this weird gum shit for invisibility. Rope trick used powdered corn and a loop of parchment, shatter needed chips of mica. You could use gold wire bent in some weirdass shape for levitate sure, but a little loop of leather worked just as well. No Ango, you don’t gotta memorize this all now, but sure fuck take notes if you want to, you won’t be able to cast so many second level spells for a long time but fuck it dream big kid.

It was actually kinda nice. Talking about this stuff was pretty boring he guessed (or at least it was for most people, Taako had forgotten how much he enjoyed the actual work behind the magic sometimes) but Angus seemed interested as fuck. He actually did pull out a notebook at one point and started jotting everything Taako said down, and yeah okay, he guessed that was pretty good to have. Taako wrote a lot of things down, but most of it he just kinda had in his head.

Once he was pretty sure he’d grabbed enough shit that he wouldn’t have to go on a supply run for a good long while he went up to the counter to pay. 

“You know Taako, it’s real impressive how you manage to remember all of that off of the top of your head,” Angus said as they were leaving the store, and Taako shrugged.

“Ain’t even a thing when you’ve been doing this shit for a while, you just remember,” he said. He was pretty sure it took him a longer time than most to actually get this stuff down, so it was far from impressive. 

“If you say so,” Angus said, and it didn’t sound like the kid believed him, but what else was new. 

“Okay, so now cha’ boy needs some new clothes,” Taako said, changing that topic and starting off in the direction of some clothing stores. Angus followed after him, seeming slightly less interested in this portion of the shopping trip. 

“Why do you need new clothes,” he asked, and Taako gave him a look showing just how ridiculous that question was. 

“You don’t need a _reason_ for new clothes bubula,” he said, and Angus looked more amused by that than he had any reason to be. That hadn’t been a joke. Hell, maybe he’d buy the kid some shit to prove his point. He was always wearing that fancy schoolboy getup, which hey, he pulled off the look well enough, but he could definitely use some variety. 

Picking a store that looked promising, Taako headed inside and started looking for something that would work on his maybe-date with the grim reaper. Angus was just kind of standing around, poking through the components bag and looking bored.

“Hey pumpkin, don’t just stand there being useless. Go grab something for yourself,” he said, trying to ignore the surprised look that got him.

“Um, I didn’t think to bring any money,” he said but Taako waved that away. 

“Got it covered, if you need to you can pay me back when we get back to the base if it bothers you that bad,” he said, and a little reluctantly Angus nodded. 

“Yeah okay, I guess so,” he said before heading off in the direction of the kids clothes. Taako tried to keep his focus on finding a good outfit for himself (and honestly, he’d found several decent contenders. Might be worth it to get a couple things while he was here) but he found his mind continuing to get drawn back to one of the main reasons he’d decided to bring Angus down here in the first place. Talk to the brat about not looking into extremely dangerous enemies and trying to hide it from people. 

Ugh, he didn’t want to. How had he managed to be the only one actually paying attention when Angus did obviously questionable shit. He wasn’t in any way responsible enough for this. 

But he wasn’t about to let Angus do something stupid and reckless, so he guessed he didn’t have much of a choice. 

—

Angus flipped through the clothes on the rack, trying to find something that was nice but not too expensive. Even if he was going to pay Taako back, he didn’t want to ask him to spend too much money. 

He’d been pretty surprised that Taako had decided to bring him along shopping. It was a nice break though, and getting the spell components had been a incredibly informative magic lesson. And no matter what he was, it was impressive how Taako managed to keep all of those things straight like that. Angus was sure he’d be able to get it with time, but for someone who claimed to be an idiot the way Taako was able to rattle off what was needed for which spell was kind of amazing. 

After a bit he managed to find a shirt and shorts outfit that he liked well enough. It was a little more casual than what he normally wore, but he was having a hard time finding something close to that. Gathering up the clothes, he went over to where Taako had at least two or three outfits in his arms at this point. 

“I picked something out,” he said, Taako nodding absently. 

“Cool cool, should be like, almost done here,” he said, and Angus wasn’t too sure how much he believed that but he figured it was best to not question it. Instead, he starting looking through one of the closest racks of clothes to pass the time. It was all adult stuff over here so none of it would fit him, but it was something to do.

“So,” Taako started after a bit of silence, and Angus couldn’t quite read that tone of voice he was using, “you’ve been looking into the whole red robe stuff some more?” he asked, and Angus froze. 

He had been. Or at least, he’d been _trying_ to. Like he thought, he wasn’t able to make much headway. The most he had were scribbled down theories he had no real way of testing, based off of the too little knowledge he did have. He’d been trying as much as possible to find more though, as fruitless as it seemed.

Angus didn’t know how Taako knew about any of that though. 

“Um, no?” he tried, knowing before he even finished speaking that Taako wasn’t going to buy it. The wizard didn’t even try to say anything, just stared down at him until he cracked, which was not a very long time at all. 

“Okay, yes, I've been trying to look into it but I haven’t found anything,” he relented, and Taako nodded, seeming to have decided on which clothes to get at this point. 

“Well yeah, of course you haven’t. If the red robes were that easy to find I’m sure the bureau would’ve done it by now,” Taako said. Angus couldn’t help frown at how dismissive he was being. He knew he didn't mean it like that, but the same thing had been bothering Angus in a way. 

“I know it’s not going to be easy, but I’m the world’s greatest detective. I should be able to do this,” he insisted. He knew most people didn’t take that title very seriously, and he was sure Taako was one of them, but that didn’t change the fact that he felt like he should have more than what he did right now. There was just nothing left, but for beings so powerful who'd created so much damage it didn't make sense. There should be some sort of trail. 

“Hey, I don’t doubt that you could figure something out. I just don’t think you should,” Taako said, surprising him. 

“But isn’t it best to have as much information about something as you can? If we ever need to fight the red robes we should try to know as much as possible,” he argued. Taako shrugged, stopping by a hat rack on their way to the front counter. 

“Fair point my dude, but that shit doesn’t help anyone if you get yourself killed trying to find out the dark secrets of some spooky lich thing. Then we still don’t know shit and you’re dead, which is a net loss,” Taako said. Angus pouted some, although he knew Taako had a point. 

“I’m not going to get killed. I’m not actually going to go near him,” he grumbled. He meant that too, he was smart enough to know that would be a dumb and deadly thing to even attempt. He just wanted answers though, but he was running out of places to try to find them. 

Taako didn’t seem too invested, just sort of nodding as he picked up a hat. Without saying anything he placed it on Angus’s head, and it was a little awkward because he was already _wearing_ a hat, although this one was much different. It was in the same style as Taako’s wizard hats, but this one was a dark blue with little gold specks across it like stars. Taako pursed his lips, looking him over before nodding once again, more forcefully this time. 

“Get that, you need _something_ to liven up the fucking snooze-fest you got going on now,” he said. Taking the hat off, Angus looked it over, and it wasn’t something he was normally wear at all. Even still, he found himself liking it despite that, nodding after a moment. 

“Yeah okay, the gold matches my wand,” he said, and he swore that managed to get a smile out of Taako, as quick as he was to hide it again. 

“Alright, maybe you’re not completely hopeless with fashion after all. You just need a teacher, fuck, I’m gonna have to teach you goddamn everything aren't I? Magic, cooking, clothes, it never goddamn ends,” he complained, although it he didn’t sound genuinely upset in the slightest. 

“You’re a really good teacher Taako, so I don’t mind,” Angus said, and Taako huffed in annoyance at that. For someone who acted like he thought he was the best thing ever, he really didn’t know how to accept a genuine compliment. 

“You better not mind, this is a fucking _gift_ I’ve given you,” he grumbled, and Angus didn’t bother commenting on it. Taako quickly paid for their clothes and the hat and they headed back outside, starting towards the edge of Neverwinter to find a good place to call down a pod. After a moment, Angus put the hat he’d been wearing into the bag with the rest of the clothes and put the new one on, smiling up at Taako as he did. 

“Since I have my own hat now does that make me an official wizard?” he asked, and Taako nodded. 

“Fucking hell yeah it does, that’s exactly how this works,” he said. Angus knew it was just a silly joke, but he couldn’t help but feel a little bit proud despite that. 

“And as an official wizard,” Taako continued, surprising Angus some. “I expect you to know when to stay out of shit. We aren’t the ones to go rushing headlong into things alright. You just end up with a lot of dead wizard that way,” he said, and reluctantly Angus nodded. He had a point, he knew he had a point. There was a part of him though that knew he couldn’t quite let this go, even though he probably should. 

“I promise I’ll be careful,” he said after a moment. Taako nodded, and Angus wasn’t sure if he’d say he looked satisfied, but it was something. 

“I know you will be pumpkin,” Taako said, calling a transit canon down to pick them up. Angus felt sort of like he should say something as they waited, but he didn’t know what to. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how Taako had sounded just now saying that. 

He couldn’t believe how much Taako genuinely sounded like he _cared._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nanowrimo is over but i'm gonna try and keep up the writing streak for as long as possible. I forgot how nice it is to write a bit each day. Also, have y'all ever looked at the actual spell components for shit for DnD, some of that junk is weird. Like, god, wizards and other spellcasters are just carting around bags of miscellaneous garbage and then using that junk to kill people. shit's wild. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!


	19. Trust Versus Mistrust

By the time they got back up to the moon base Angus had thanked Taako at least three more times for buying him the hat and clothes. As soon as they left the hanger he told Taako he’d go back to his room right now to grab the gold to repay him. Taako had just waved him away though, already heading back to his room.

“Just bring it to the next magic lesson alright pumpkin? Cha boy’s gonna go take a nap or some shit,” he said, leaving before Angus could argue with him. Oh well, he wouldn’t forget to bring the money, so it wasn’t like waiting a few days to pay him back was a big deal if it didn’t bother Taako any. 

Heading back to his own room, Angus put away the clothes he’d gotten first thing. He kept his new hat on though. Maybe it was silly but he really did like it. He preferred the style of his usual hats, but Taako had gotten him this one and said it made him a real wizard. It was a joke, but it still meant a lot to him. He figured it wouldn’t hurt any if he started wearing the hat to his magic lessons sometimes. 

Sitting down on his bed, Angus pulled out his notebook to look over everything he’d managed to jot down about spell components. He hadn’t managed to get it all, but he got most of Taako’s basic explanation of them and some of the ingredients for certain spells. A lot of them he was a long ways away from being able to cast though, so it was technically fine that he hadn’t managed to write down every single one Taako had brought. He made sure to focus on the ones he would be able to cast soon, level twos and threes and such. 

It was so interesting though, seeing what was needed for certain spells. He could see the connection for some, but it still seemed like a huge task to keep all of that in your head. That was just for a normal spellcasting too, that was even getting into the idea of thinking of the correct thing to grab in the middle of a fight. He had no idea how Taako could think he was dumb when he was able to do it all that with ease. 

Flipping through his notebook, Angus ended up going a few pages past the notes he’d taken for magic lessons today and into his uh, previous research. He’d say it was an accident, but his mind kept wandering back there despite his best judgment. 

Taako was probably right. It had already proven next to impossible to find anything out about the Red Robes, and if he _did_ end up finding something, it could be extremely dangerous. It would be best to either stop looking into it or ask for help in case he did end up making a break and the Red Robe realized what he was doing. He didn’t want to stop trying to figure this out, and it wasn’t like he was against working with others either. This shouldn’t be too hard of a decision to make. 

And yet he still found himself not wanting to tell anyone. Taako already knew, but Taako was keeping the information on the red robe to himself too. He wasn’t sure why that mattered to him, they should let the bureau know all the information they had after all. It was important, and it wasn’t like he didn’t trust them, he did. But well, it wasn’t like they didn’t know the red robe was around. They knew what was important, Angus could keep the little details to himself until he could make sense of them and if they even mattered. 

Frowning, Angus reread all the fact he knew about the red robes.

The Red Robes were an order of wizards, sorcerers, and other spellcasters. 

The Red Robes created the grand relics in order to test the limits of their magic. 

They were all thought to be killed during the Relic Wars. 

At least one had survived, and has strong evidence supporting it being a form of undead. 

The body of one was found at Wave Echo Cave. This Red Robe was in the order of the Umbra Wizards and was the previous owner of the umbrastaff. 

The living Red Robe was upset to find out she’d died. 

The living Red Robe was upset to find out that Merle, Magnus and Taako don’t trust him. 

The living Red Robe has not tried to take any of the Grand Relics, despite having multiple opportunities. 

The living Red Robe saved Merle’s children. 

The Red Robes are evil. 

It was a much shorter list of information than he would’ve liked for something so important. Even still, he’d worked with less before, in cases that had taken him much shorter to solve. He should have _some_ theories by now. With this though he just kept running into frustrating blanks. 

There wasn’t anything he could do about it though, because no one had any information on the red robes, and they were beyond dangerous to look into. The director was adamant about staying away from them, and without any solid leads to follow the best Angus could do was wait around and hope something came. He just wished there was someone he could ask who would know more about their history. Someone besides Taako, Magnus and Merle who’d seen one before, even back during the war. _Anything_ at this point would be helpful.

Sitting up some and closing his notebook, Angus realized there _was_ someone he could ask. Sure, he’d been hoping not to open up his investigation to too many people, but with the lack of leads at the moment he didn’t have a choice if he wanted to keep this case open. And he so wanted to keep this case open, it was worth it.

Leaving his room, he started off towards the Director’s office. It was getting pretty late, but he had a feeling that if he waited until tomorrow he would talk himself out of asking. Plus, he knew she stayed up late working on important bureau business most nights. He felt a little bad about going to distract from that, but not bad enough to actually keep himself from doing it. 

“Madam Director?” he asked, knocking on the side of the door as he peeked inside of the office. She was sitting at her desk like he’d expected, writing quickly on what seemed to be some paperwork. She stopped her work and looked up at him, a soft smile on her face. Angus wasn’t sure why he’d been so uncertain to talk to her about this. She was always so nice and understanding with him, he really liked her.

“Hello Angus. That’s a different style than you usually go for,” she said, and Angus hadn’t realized that he was still wearing his new wizard hat. He couldn’t help but smile as he reached a hand up to it. 

“Taako got it for me. He took me down with him to buy spell components today,” he explained, his voice showing how happy he was about this. Madam Director nodded still smiling, but there was something else there in her expression too, something he couldn’t quite place. Angus felt like he could figure out what most people were thinking pretty well, but she was one of the few who he couldn’t quite see through sometimes. 

“That’s wonderful dear, do you need something?” she asked, and right, she was too busy to listen to him talk about everything he and Taako did today. He quickly nodded, shutting the office door behind him to keep the conversation private. 

“Um, yes. I wanted to ask you about something, if that’s alright,” he said, taking a quick glance around the room. The only other person in there was Davenport, but the Director was very adamant about how anything said in front of her could be said in front of Davenport, so he didn’t mind. 

“Of course it’s alright. What’s on your mind?” she asked. Angus figured at this point there was nothing else to do besides just ask. 

“I was wondering if you had any experiences with the Red Robes,” he said, and the Director’s instant change in mood wasn’t lost on him. The soft smile on her face dropped and her posture stiffened as she sat up ever so slightly in her chair. 

“I…” she started, before taking a quick breath and steadying herself to be almost completely unreadable. “I’ve had a few run ins with the Red Robes, during the relic wars,” she said. Angus nodded, resisting the urge to pull out his notebook and write this down. He wasn’t sure how she’d feel about that, and he’d left the notebook in his room anyway so the motion would’ve been useless. 

“So you’ve actually met them? The Red Robes?” Angus asked, unable to keep himself from feeling at least a little bit excited about this. The Director nodded, her face grim. 

“Angus, why are you asking me about the Red Robes,” she asked, her tone of voice not leaving him any room to not answer. He couldn’t be too surprised. As kind as she was to him, he knew this was a very serious topic. Even Taako got worried and uncomfortable at the idea of him looking into it, of course the Director would be wary as well. 

“It’s just, we’ve almost got all of the Grand Relics now. If we manage to keep up our pace of seeking out and retrieving with these final ones, we should be done in maybe another six to eight months. We _know_ there’s at least one Red Robe still out there who knows what we’re doing. I doubt it’ll be willing to sit by much longer while we destroy the last of the relics,” Angus explained. This was all true, this was why he wanted to know about the Red Robes. If there was any other factors, they weren’t as important as these. Madam Director nodded, her face still serious as she listened to his plea. 

“We know so little about the Red Robes. I don’t want to ignore any possibility to learn more. If- If Magnus, Merle and Taako end up having to fight one someday, I want to be able to help,” he finished. The Director was quite for a long while, seeming to think over his words before finally nodding solemnly once again, a small smile pushing at the edges of her lips.

“Of course you just want to help them,” she said, something like relief in her voice. Angus wasn’t sure why she’d think he’d ever want to do anything else. 

“That’s why you hired me. To get as much information as I can to help them on their missions,” he said. 

“And you’ve done an excellent job of that thus far,” she assured him, but Angus’s shoulders slumped some as he frowned. He wasn’t sure how much of that was actually true. 

“I wasn’t able to speak to them when they were getting the chalice, and I only made things _worse_ when they were after the philosopher’s stone. I want to prove to all of you that it really was a good idea to hire me,” he said. He didn’t have any doubt in his own abilities, but he’d met plenty of people who thought he couldn’t be useful. He didn’t want the Director or the reclaimers to be some of those people. 

“Angus, you don’t have to prove anything. I’ve never once doubted my decision to bring you into the bureau,” the Director said, and that actually sounded like she was telling the complete truth. 

“Does that mean you’ll tell me what you know about the Red Robes?” he asked, because he hadn’t gotten distracted enough by this to forget his reason for coming here in the first place. She sighed heavily at his question, and he got the feeling she was hoping he would’ve. 

“There’s not much to say that you aren’t already aware of,” she said, but Angus couldn’t believe that was true. 

“But you’ve _met them._ Do you have any idea if the you’ve seen the one who survived before? Have you seen them fight? That kind of information could be invaluable if they ever attack. Oh! I have a theory about the one they saw! I don’t think he really survived at all. I can’t say for sure, I haven’t looked much into necromantic magic, but I’d bet it’s some sort of undead,” he said, rambling once he got started asking questions. The Director leaned against her desk, resting her head in her hand as she took his barrage of questions. 

“Angus, I don’t want you looking into the Red Robes,” she said, her voice deadly serious and he immediately stopped speaking. He knew that was a possible response, but he’d thought she’d want information just as much as he did. 

“But we need to be _prepared,”_ he tried to insist. She nodded, standing up from her desk. 

“And we will be, as much as we _can_ be,” she said, and he figured she could see the disappointment on his face because she continued. “I have no way of knowing if the Red Robe the boys saw was one I’ve had encounters with, but that doesn’t matter. If a Red Robe does attack, our best option is to run away, not to stand and fight,” she added, and he guessed she’d know better than he would. 

“I don’t know if we could talk them out of standing and fighting if they get their mind set on it,” he said, partially joking, but it was true. Even Taako who was always so insistent on keeping himself out of danger, Angus didn’t see him abandoning Magnus and Merle if those two decided to go down fighting. The Director laughed softly, nodding in agreement. 

“They’re stubborn when they want to be,” she said, but Angus just nodded absently. She definitely noticed he was less than thrilled with how this had gone down. “Angus, I know you want to help them and how much you care, but the matter of the Red Robes is too dangerous,” she insisted. 

“I know, you’re right, I know. Taako said it was too dangerous too, and I’m a good enough detective to know that should’ve been my first clue,” he reluctantly conceded. 

“For now we need to gather the final relics as fast as possible and hope we can manage these last few items before the Red Robe attempts to step in,” she said, and Angus nodded. It made sense. It wasn’t a plan he was happy with, but it made sense. 

“Madam Director, if- if you knew something important, you’d _tell me,_ right?” he found himself asking. He believed she would, but he couldn’t be 100% sure, and that bothered him. 

“Angus, I promise I’m telling you everything I possibly can,” she said. He didn’t say anything to that, letting a silence hang in the air between them. After a moment she sighed, leaning on her staff somewhat. “It’s late, you should get some sleep,” she said, and Angus nodded. 

“Alright. Goodnight Madam Director,” he said, starting out of her office. 

“Goodnight Angus.” 

Angus frowned as he made his way back to his room, silently going through the motions of getting ready for bed. He couldn’t focus on any of it though, his mind working through the whole meeting with the Director over and over again. His mind kept getting caught on one thing, and when he took off the hat Taako had brought him to lay down he found he couldn’t sleep because of it.

He asked the Director if she would tell him if she knew something important. 

She hadn’t said yes. 

——

Lucretia practically collapsed back into her chair as soon as Angus left the room, letting her head fall into her hands as she tried to steady herself. She wasn’t crying, but that might've been because she was too exhausted to at that point. 

She shouldn’t have been surprised that the topic came up. Since she first saw him again he’d proven to be just as frighteningly intelligent as she could have ever imagined. If anything, it was a surprise that it’d taken him this long to press her on the subject. Still, she wasn’t sure if it had caught her off guard or if it was that much harder to keep in than she expected, with everything so close. 

With how much he resembled them. With how much she wish she could’ve done better by him. With how certain she was that if he had been left with the capability to figure it out, he would’ve by now. 

She wanted to come clean, and she could soon. She just had to be patient for a little bit longer, and then she could fix this. She knew there was no chance for forgiveness for her, but that didn’t matter.

“Davenport?” 

Lucretia jolted at the sudden concerned voice. She’d forgotten he was in here, with how quiet he’d been while she spoke with Angus. When she looked over at the gnome he was frowning, confusion and worry clear on his face. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her so close to breaking down, but she tried to limit that as much as possible. She forced herself to sit up some, trying to smile in a somewhat reassuring way. 

“He really is such a smart boy, isn’t he? They’d be so proud of him,” she said. Davenport looked to think it over for a moment before nodding sharply. 

“Davenport!” he said. Lucretia sighed, picking up her pen to continue going through the paperwork she’d abandoned when Angus came in. It was late, but she wasn’t planning on sleeping anytime soon, and she needed the distraction right now anyway.

As long as Angus could hold out for one more relic, it would be okay. 

They just had to wait a little bit longer. 

——

The next day Taako told himself not to over think shit. The bag of spell components laid where he’d tossed them into a corner as soon as he’d gotten back to his room the day before. The bag of new clothes had been emptied out and each outfits tried on and adjusted until he managed to pick the one to actually wear. 

This was a meeting to double check on the status of his and an entire town’s souls first, and anything else second. Probably nothing else if he was being honest with himself, because like, he wasn’t an idiot. Sure, death turned out to be a cooler person than expected and didn’t seem to mind the occasional flirting and oddball shit Taako would throw at him. That was very different from being interested in anything even remotely resembling a relationship though.

Taako wasn’t sure why he was interested in that. Sure, Kravitz was attractive, but Taako had met attractive dudes before, once that hadn’t ever tried to kill him no less. 

It was probably because he wanted a distraction. There was too much weird shit going on (there _wasn’t._ Nothing was weird but his own goddamn emotions, which was the fact that he was having some) so maybe he wanted to take a break and flirt with a cute dude. If it helped get on his good side and kept himself and a whole town of innocent people from getting thrown in ghost jail, well that was a bonus.

Looking over his outfit in the mirror one last time, cute enough to work for a date but practical enough to make pottery in, he figured he stalled enough.

Heading out to the Chug and Squeeze, Taako told himself that as long as he didn’t end up dead at the end of this it was a success. 

Collapsing back down onto his bed much later that night, giggly and still slightly drunk from a copious amount of wine, he figured that absolutely counted as a _success._

Maybe it was because he was drunk that he was so optimistic about it, since it wasn’t like the night had been perfect. They managed to come to an agreement on the actual issue pretty quick, and Taako had expected that he’d bounce as soon as that was done. Kravitz had been really chill with hanging around though. He was even the one to suggest finishing the class, and he was shit at pottery but Taako could’ve sworn that he was actually having a good time.

Really, the only huge bump for the evening was when Kravitz sensed weird death energy or whatever and Taako's umbrella tried kill him. Which, yeah, not the best way to end what he was definitely calling a date now. Kravitz still seemed interested in meeting up again though, which was _hells_ of more than he’d expected out of this.

Taako actually liked the idea of meeting up again. He’d see how he felt when he was fully sober in the morning, but as of right now he was fucking full steam ahead on this train. There was one thing he had to make sure didn’t fuck up again though. Taako looked at the umbrastaff still hanging off his arm and grabbed it, holding it up above him. 

“Hey you. Don’t do that again, or ‘m gonna have to like, tell Ango on you. And then he’ll do his investigation shit and find out why you’re so weird,” he said, trying not to focus on the fact that he was talking to his umbrella. The thing was strange and did it’s own shit often enough that Taako felt like talking to it on occasions wasn’t the weirdest thing he could do. 

It didn’t give any response to his tipsy mumbling, because it was an umbrella. A part of him kinda hoped it would say something, although that was stupid. The closest it could get to ‘speaking’ was blasting off powerful spells to drill shapes in walls, and considering they were in his room right now he’d rather that didn’t happen.

Still, maybe he should tell Angus about what happened tonight anyway. Not to tattle on his umbrella, but to maybe get some sorta answer. He was a smart kid, Taako trusted him. If anyone could figure shit out it was Ango. He was real fucking talented, smarter than Taako. He was proud of him.

And if he told him about new weird shit with him umbrella, maybe it’d distract him from all this red robe nonsense. Brat was gonna get himself hurt or killed or something if he didn’t watch himself. Taako couldn’t let him get himself fucked over like that. He also couldn't do shit if he did get himself in a jam though, because he figured he wasn't a match for ultimate magic power or whatever the fuck the Red Robes were. He was too tired to think clearly about that. He didn't want to fight the Red Robes, simple as that. 

Rolling over, he dropped the umbrella down to the floor with a sigh. He was even more drunk than he thought if he was starting to have emotions and shit. 

Well, at least he could blame it on the alcohol when he found himself feeling all dumbly proud thinking of Angus. All stupid hopeful at the idea of seeing Kravitz more. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d let himself actually give a shit about something in this way, let alone other people. 

The closest was probably back when he was running Sizzle It Up. He was all hopeful and proud of that. 

That should probably spell bad for this shit. After all, Sizzle It Up had ended in disaster, and it wasn’t like he’d gotten any fucking better as a person since then. This shit was gonna explode in his face too. Kravitz wouldn’t call again and Angus would, fuck, realize what a shitty person he was or get himself killed by a Red Robe or something. It was bound to break bad eventually. 

Right now though, right now Taako wasn’t letting himself think of that. He could excuse himself with the wine for actually feeling hope about this. In the morning he could say he didn’t actually give a shit and was just drunk off of his ass. 

For now though, he was just fucking _happy_ for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took kind of long updating this time, sorry about that. I kinda got distracted by holiday fics and ended up writing that nonstop for a month instead. We're back though and we get Angus starting to second guess everything he's ever known and taako drunk and giddy about a crush. Slightly different nights, these two boys had. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	20. A Little Bit Of Happiness

However much Taako might’ve enjoyed the night before, he did not appreciate waking up with a goddamn hangover. He didn’t even drink that much, it wasn’t fair. He would’ve been able to sleep it off fine, if it wasn’t for the second thing he very much did not appreciate.

That thing was the Director waking them up all bright and early for some mandatory reclaimer training or whatever. It was bullshit was what it was. He wasn’t paying attention to the exact explanation of whatever they were doing. Bla bla something about them needing to get prepared for the next relic. Taako wasn’t sure what the big fucking rush was, they’d barely gotten the last one like, two weeks ago at most. As far as he was concerned they should still be in fucking recovery time.

“Whoa pointy hat, what happened to you?” Merle asked, and Taako guessed he looked like he was trying to power word kill everyone around him without actually speaking. Maybe he was, it would go a long way to solve a few of his problems right now.

“Alcohol,” he answered simply, because that was the long and short of it. Merle nodded, thankfully not questioning it any more than that. Taako wasn’t in the mood to talk more than that. The only thing he was in the mood for right now was some coffee, but he’d been dragged out of his dorm too fast for even that small luxury. They had a bunch of water available to stay hydrated while training, and that helped but Taako was bitter and he wanted something to match that.

The director started putting them through the motions before he could find any other excuses to complain, which was irritating because he would very much want to complain more. He kind of felt like he needed to so he could offset the balance of whatever the fuck mushy shit he could vaguely remember thinking about last night. He couldn't remember exact details, but he knew it'd been dumb as fuck. At least he hadn't gone so far as to say any of it out loud. That would've been begging for shit to go wrong.

Whatever, he guessed being bitter and hungover was  balance enough. If the director seemed especially cold and irritated this morning then he guessed that was karma too or something. 

It was still morning when they were finally let go from the training, although it has been early as shit when they started so that didn't mean anything. As Taako knew was that he was sore as fuck and out of spellslots so yeah, that all definitely counted as enough karma. Any sappy bullshit he might’ve been feeling before was well and truly gone at that point. There was nothing left but exhausted rage.

That didn’t change when Angus caught sight of him slumping his way into the cafeteria, all happy dumb smiles. Taako ignored him, going straight to get some fucking coffee and food first. No one could blame him for that okay, the director was the one who had insisted on getting them doing a full fucking workout before they even had a chance to grab breakfast.

Once he actually had his shit he went and sat down with the kid, but that was because… because fuck it, he didn’t need an excuse for every little thing he did. He was sitting with Angus because he decided to sit with Angus, simple as that. Merle and Magnus had apparently woken up 'early' and had already eaten before the training, so he didn't exactly have anyone else to sit with.

“Good morning Taako! You look tired,” Angus said, and Taako grunted, taking a very long drink of his coffee before doing any actual words.

“Fuckin, Director decided on some early morning training bullshit,” he grumbled before stuffing some bland as fuck eggs into his mouth. Ugh, have they never heard of salt back there? Or pepper, or fucking anything. Angus nodded, eating his food without any sort of complaint. Taako didn’t understand that. The kid grew up rich, he should have a better palette than that.

“She has you training for the next relic already?” he asked, and Taako groaned.

“Fucking, yeah apparently. Don’t know why, think we’ve earned a bit of a break but whatever,” he grumbled.

“I talked to her the other night. She said we should focus on gathering the final relics as soon as possible. That’s probably why,” he said, and ugh yeah that sounded like whatever she’d been talking about when Taako was too tired to pay attention.

“I mean, I’m good to go grab a relic whenever you lot find the next one. We’re five for five, don’t see the need to go upping the ante with the training bullshit now,” he said, taking a bit of toast. It was bland, but that shit was supposed to be bland.

“Mhmm,” Angus hummed absently, and Taako actually took a moment to look at him then. Kid was picking at his food, kinda pushing his eggs around on his plate before eating little bites. His expression was all distant and that way he got when he was thinking real hard on something.

“Whats’a matter pumpkin?” he asked, not expecting his voice to sound so genuine. He was still tired and discombobulated, it wasn't his fault.

“I- nothing’s wrong sir,” Angus said quickly, and yeah Taako wasn’t buying that for a second.

“Didn’t ask what was wrong, asked what’s up. You know for someone so good at telling when people are lying you can’t bluff for shit,” he said. Angus looked panicked for a moment at Taako calling him out before sighing, his shoulders slumping.

“Okay, but it’s really, it’s not important. I promise,” he said, and there was something there that seemed like he wasn’t going to budge on that. Which honestly  made Taako want to know what was going on with the kid even more. Fuck him for being a naturally curious individual.

“This ain’t more red robe junk is it? I told you to cool it with that,” he asked, and Angus shook his head.

“No, no it’s nothing like that. The director was against me looking into them too,” he said. Taako nodded, frowning as he looked Angus over once again. Maybe he was upset because he got officially shut down on the whole red robe investigation? If that was the case Taako couldn’t be too upset for the kid. Poking his head into that junk would no doubt land him in some hot water.

“Well, as long as you’re not gonna get yourself killed it’s not my problem,” Taako said flippantly, twirling his fork around before taking another bite of bland eggs. Seriously, he knew salt wasn’t illegal on the moon, there wasn’t any excuse not to use it.

“If I  _ was _ going to get myself killed would it be your problem?” Angus asked, looking a bit more lighthearted than he did before. Taako scoffed, shrugging noncommittally.

“You’re learning the Taako school of magic now. If you die in a dumb way it’ll reflect bad on the brand and we can’t have that,” he said. 

“Of course not,” Angus said, and he was smiling now. He definitely seemed to be in a better mood than when Taako had found him, and he tried to ignore the relief he felt at that, as well as the fact that he’d forgotten about his own grouchy mood in the process.

“Mhmm, right. Oh! Uh fuck, so I’m kinda tapped for spellslots right now, so magic lessons are gonna have to wait until I get a fucking nap, but my umbrella did something weird again,” Taako said. He’d been meaning to tell Angus about that to distract him anyway, and it seemed to work, the kid instantly perking up with curiosity.

“It did? What happened? When did it happen? Was it during training?” Angus started asking rapid fire, leaning up on the table to try and get a look at the umbrella hanging at Taako’s side.

“Nah, it was last night, I was, uh,” do kids know what dating is? He and Kravitz weren’t even dating it was only one date/business meeting/negotiation for his very soul. Now Ango was looking at him weird, damn it. He couldn’t hesitate around this kid for a second. “I was hanging out with a dude and it tried to kill him? And then there might’ve been a lich around but we couldn’t find it,” he said. The gears were clearly starting to turn in his head again as Taako spoke.

“A lich? Who were you with, did you-” Angus started to shoot off another line of questions but cut himself off, glancing around the cafeteria. It was almost empty at this point. Taako had already arrived late because of training bullshit and it was edging towards that awkward time between meals where people tended to clear out. “Maybe we should go somewhere more private. There could be prying eyes, and listening ears,” he said quietly.

Taako wasn’t expecting that. The kid had been all cautious on the train, but he didn’t seem bothered by anything like that the entire time they were on the moon base. It made sense, after all they were supposed to be able to trust everyone up here. Sure, that hadn’t turned out with like, Lucas, but that dude wasn’t even technically a member of the bureau. Still, if Angus felt like they should have some privacy to talk Taako was not gonna argue with that one.

“Yeah alright, the closer to my bed and a nap the better honestly,” he said, pushing himself up. Angus followed after him, still seeming like he was thinking everything over.

“So, who were you spending time with last night?” Angus asked as they walked back to Taako’s dorm, and he waved away the question.

“You don’t know him, I doubt it’ll help with your little investigation,” he said. Taako wouldn’t normally give a shit, but he was pretty sure most people weren’t exactly over the fact that Kravitz had technically been trying to kill all of them.

“Oh, did you go down to the surface last night? Where were you at, it might be important,” Angus continued to question, and Taako doubted where he was would actually matter all that much. He got the distinct feeling that Angus was trying to get information out of him for information's sake.

“No, we were up here. At the uh, chug and squeeze?” he explained.

“But I don’t know the person you were with last night?” Angus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nope, never met em.”

“He’s not a member of the bureau?” he pressed and Taako shook his head. Angus took a few long moments staring at him, and Taako was pretty sure it wasn’t because he was having difficulties figuring out this big mystery.

“Mr. Taako sir. Did you bring a  _ date _ up to our very secret moon base?” he asked, sounding incredulous. Which, yeah okay when put that way it seemed like a bad and stupid idea.

“First of all, more complicated than that okay? Secondly I thought you were all worried about prying eyes and shit, can’t this wait until we get back to the room,” he said. There was a very real possibility he’d get chewed out by the director if she thought he was bringing random people up here and he didn’t want to risk that. Plus, it was dumb. It wasn't anyone else's business what he did in his spare time.

“If you insist,” Angus said, and unfortunately it didn’t take much longer at all before they got back to the dorm. Taako took them into his room, shutting the door behind him to keep the chances of Merle and Magnus interrupting them to a minimum. As soon as the door was shut Angus started speaking again.

“Sir I want to know what happened with your umbrastaff last night but you really shouldn’t be bringing people up here, that’s a security hazard,”  he said. Taako groaned, flopping down on the bed. He wasn’t gonna fucking get out of this one without explaining some shit, damn it.

“Okay I said it was more complicated than that for one thing. I didn’t  _ bring _ him up here all willy-nilly. He came up himself. He uh, he’s not affected by the voidfish,” he said, and Angus was scrambling up on the bed, even more interested now.

“He’s  _ not? _ How? Taako this is super important information,” he insisted.

“He’s not from this plane? He’s from the astral plane. He’s dead. Death. Okay like, remember that soul bounty hunter or whatever we ran into while grabbing the philosopher’s stone? Turns out he’s a pretty cool guy and not at all affected by the mind static,” Taako explained reluctantly. Several different emotions seemed to flash across Angus’s face as he took all of that in before nodding slowly.

“I guess there’s nothing we can do about him not being affected,” Angus mumbled after a moment. “Was that your first date, or have you had others?” he added.

“I never said it was a date,” Taako grumbled.

“You never said it wasn’t either, and I am the world’s greatest detective,” he said all smug. God he was such a brat. 

“Can we get back to the weird umbrella shit?” Taako asked, because he could avoid this question if he wanted to damn it.

“Yeah okay” Angus said, sounding pleased enough with Taako’s not-answer. “So your umbrastaff tried to kill your date?” he asked, eyeing the umbrella again.

“Okay his name is Kravitz, can you stop calling him that now?” Taako huffed.

“Alright, so the umbrastaff tried to kill your  _ boyfriend _ Kravitz?” he asked, grinning like the little shit he was. Taako grabbed his pillow, using it to shove the brat down into the mattress. Angus tried to squirm out from under him, giggling as he pushed back at the pillow.

“What do you know, now the umbrastaff is possessing  _ me _ . It’s making me try to kill dumb kids who don’t mind there own goddamn business. How is this happening, it’s a regular fucking mystery,” he said, not really fighting the smile on his face.

“Please fight it sir, I believe in you,” Angus said, swatting at the pillow. Taako gave him one last soft thwap before dropping the pillow on his head and letting Angus right himself again. He let out a few more breathless chuckles, grabbing the pillow and holding it firmly in his lap so that Taako couldn’t attack him with it again.

“Are you gonna let me explain what happened with my umbrella to you or not?” Taako asked.

“I wasn’t the one who stopped us,” Angus said, and Taako felt like he should be more irritated with the smug brat, but he wasn’t. He was just dumbly, frustratingly fond of the kid, all wide smiles and perked ears, clutching the pillow in his lap.

“Yeah yeah whatever. Well if you’re still interested, I was walking out with Kravitz and uh, he felt some sort of presence? He said it was something undead like a lich or whatever. So he started looking for the thing and my umbrastaff started doing _ its own _ thing and tried to blast him with scorching ray,” Taako explained. Angus was still smiling, but he seemed to be concentrating on what Taako had told him now.

“It really likes scorching ray,” he said and Taako shrugged.

“It’s a good spell. You should be able to learn second level stuff soon, I’ll teach it to you,” he said. That was definitely a spell they should practice down planetside, didn’t want another repeat of the whole cafeteria incident.

“I’d like that. So uh, you said Mr.Kravitz felt a lich around?” Angus asked, and at least he wasn’t calling the dude anymore dumb not true names. 

“Yeah, I mean, he said he felt something dead and powerful like a lich, so it might not be that exactly, but uh, it was something. I feel like he’d have a good judgment on dead things,” Taako said. Angus was chewing his lip now, clearly thinking through something.

“Can I see your umbrastaff?” he asked after a moment, and Taako found himself hesitating again. These incidents were pretty few and far between, so it was probably safe. Last time he didn’t know what was happening, so keeping it away from Angus had seemed like the safest bet. It’d been a while without it doing anything strange though, so it was fine.

“Yeah go nuts. Just don’t break it, it’s still a better arcane focus than any of the shit they’ve got at the fantasy Costco,” he said, handing the umbrella over. Angus looked it over, although Taako had no idea what he could be looking for. It was his same old umbrella like it always was.

“You know, I think that red robe is a lich. This belonged to his friend, maybe he wants it back,” Angus said. Taako huffed, crossing his arms at that.

“Well he can’t have it back. It’s mine now,” he grumbled. Angus gave the umbrastaff one last look over before handing it back to him, and Taako had to resist the urge to hold it protectively to his chest. It was stupid, no one was going to take it from him. It was just a wand anyway, a really good one, but nothing completely irreplaceable.

“Please be careful Taako,” Angus said, a lot of the dumb silliness from before gone now.

“I’m pretty sure that’s my line kid. Cha’ boy’s gonna be fine,” Taako told him. Angus didn’t seem all that convinced, but he nodded all the same.

“Promise?” he asked.

“Of course,” Taako said without thinking. Which afterwards he realized how dumb that was. He could die, real fucking easily in fact. The fact that he’d survived this long was luck, pure and simple. That was exactly the reason why he hadn’t made this kind of assertion with Angus before. Because he knew it wasn’t a promise he could likely keep.

But he’d gone and done it now anyway, because he was an idiot. He didn’t want Angus to worry about him so he was giving whatever dumb empty promise the kid asked for. Well, at least if he went and beefed it, it wasn’t like he’d have to deal with the aftermath anyway. Somehow that thought wasn't all that comforting.

“Anyway that’s like, everything that happened. You can go do your detective stuff or whatever. Or not, I don’t care. I’m gonna take a fucking nap so gimme back my pillow,” Taako said. Angus nodded, handing the pillow back over before climbing off of the bed.

“I’ll look into what I can. Which isn’t much, since I’m pretty sure this is more red robe stuff,” he said. At least he was finally starting to get the picture that messing with the red robes was a bad idea.

“Yeah alright, don’t do anything stupid,” Taako said, lying down without any care that Angus was still here and talking to him.

“I won’t, can we have a magic lesson tomorrow?” he asked.

“If you leave right now and let me sleep then sure,” Taako said.

“Have a good nap Taako,” Angus said, and then he heard the bedroom door closed and well, he guessed they were having magic lessons tomorrow now. Well, he kinda skimped on the last one, so he could deal with that.

After the training and everything he was still tired enough to sleep without a problem. His headache was already gone though, and he had no idea when that had happened.

—

Angus hadn’t been in the best mood since his talk with the director the other night. He hadn’t known what to  _ think _ , and for the first time in his life he was unsure if this was a mystery he wanted to look into. There was a part of him that knew he needed to despite that, but it didn’t make the situation any easier. He didn’t know if he’d like whatever he found at the end of it all, and that was terrifying.

Taako hadn’t seemed to be in the best mood when Angus met him that morning during breakfast either (he was usually at breakfast a lot earlier, but he hadn’t been able to make himself get up like he usually did, so he was still hanging around when Taako dragged himself in). In his experience, two people both in not great moods didn’t usually improve the situation much.

But despite that it was only a little while later he found himself laughing breathlessly in Taako’s room, having a genuinely good time with the elf. Even after the conversation had taken a bit of a serious turn Angus couldn’t quite shake that good mood.

It was silly, and he had much more important things to be worried about, but he liked hanging out with Taako. He liked that Taako actually seemed to like hanging out with him. The goofs had decreased a lot and Angus found himself having fun. It felt normal and right and he was sure Taako wouldn’t appreciate him thinking of it that was but it felt like family. Or, what he imagined a family to be like, he’d only ever had his grandpa, and that was a lot different.

Joking with Taako was nice, and not stressful and didn’t make him think of all the difficult stuff running through his head lately. Even when Taako was the source of the stress for some of it. It was easier to tease him over his date after all than to think about the fact that the person he was dating was the grim reaper and how terrifying that was.

Still, once he had left the reclaimer’s dorm there wasn’t much stuff to distract him from his previous problems.

He didn’t know how to feel about the Director. Or no, that wasn’t right. He knew how to felt about her, he liked her. He wanted to trust her. He just didn’t know if he could without some serious scrutiny anymore.

He needed to know more about the red robes. Especially considering now that he was pretty sure Taako’s umbrastaff malfunctioning was because of them. He didn’t have any new leads though. He couldn’t look into them openly either. It’d worry Taako if he found out, and the Director had specifically told him not to anymore.

He couldn’t sit around and do nothing though. That wasn’t how he worked. He needed to do something, and he needed to now.

He’d promised Taako he wouldn’t do anything stupid, and he  _ wouldn’t. _ But he wasn’t going to stop his investigation either.

Heading to his room, Angus grabbed his wand and his detective equipment. Made sure to slip his concealed crossbow up his sleeve. On a whim he grabbed the wizard hat Taako had brought him as well, throwing it on before running to the hangers. He caught sight of Avi quickly fumbling to hide his flask when Angus came into the room. Angus wasn’t sure why, he’d told him a bunch of times that he could drink in front of him, but for some reason he was worried about setting a bad example. 

“Hey there kiddo, where are you running off to?” Avi asked.

“Phandalin? I want to practice some of the evocation spells Taako’s taught me because we’re gonna have another lesson tomorrow, but I don’t want to wreck anything up here,” he said. Taako has said he couldn’t bluff very well, but Angus was a lot better at it when he wasn’t caught off guard. Avi seemed to think the request over for a bit before shrugging and starting to put the coordinates in.

“Yeah alright, make sure you call for a canon if anything goes wrong,” he said and Angus quickly nodded.

“Of course sir! It should be okay though, like Taako said I can’t set it on fire anymore than it already was,” he said, and Avi laughed a little awkwardly before nodding.

“Right yeah, that shouldn’t be an issue I guess,” he said, finishing setting up the canon. Angus climbed in, hand on the break to pull it as soon as he started getting close to the ground. He’d gotten a bit better at it than the last time he’d had to do that on his own, or maybe Avi’s firing was a lot smoother. It was probably that. Either way, he landed without an issue, several yards away from the giant plane of black glass that has once been a town.

He took only a moment to stare at it before running off in the direction he remembered Wave Echo Cave to be in. He didn’t have Garyl with him this time, so it would be much more difficult to get there without anyone noticing how long he was gone for, but he needed to at least try. He didn’t know where else to look, but he couldn’t let himself give up.

He needed answers, and he was the world’s greatest detective. He was going to find them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see now i said there was going to be fluff in this fic, it only took like, 20 chapters to get into full swing and Angus is absolutely not going to be making any huge mistakes and cause everyone to worry, definitely not. This chapter was fun to write once I finally managed to get past some dumb stumbling block. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	21. Parley

To put it a bit mildly, the last ten years had not been the best for Barry J. Bluejeans.

He was trying to move forward, but with every step forward he made it was like he got thrashed back another three. He was caught in an endless cycle of either knowing how much he’d lost and it was the absolute worst, or having no idea what was missing in his life and it was the absolute worst. But he couldn't stop looking. No matter which of these phases he was in he was searching. Searching and planning and tracking and hiding. It was exhausting, even when he didn’t have a body to exhaust. When he did, it often led to his death.

Which led to more aching for what he lost. More planning. More waiting and fuming and desperation.

It was hard, after ten years, not to give up hope. It felt like hell when he saw Taako, his best friend, his  _ brother _ , casually explain picking up the umbrastaff of off Lup’s corpse. It seemed impossible when his family stood in front of him and told him point blank that they didn’t trust him.

It felt pointless, with ten years having passed without seeing his son.

A part of him wanted to give up. It would be easier probably, to go into a body, mind blank and not give himself any sort of direction. Live out his life blissfully unaware of the pain of being separated from his family, of knowing he had a family at all.

Or, even simpler, to let himself go. Let the tether holding his mind together to crumble to dust. Allow the arcane power binding what was still him to this world to take over and consume what was left.

But he couldn’t. Both options were unforgivable, and Lup would have his head if she ever found out he’d even considered either. As hard as it was, there was only a bit longer before it all came to a head anyway. He had no choice but to see this through to the end.

His family needed him, even if they didn’t know it.

Still, none of that made it any easier. The hardest part, truly, was the waiting. As they got closer Lucretia had gotten more adamant in her goals, and now he could barely do anything while in his lich form without risking her finding him. There was also the recent trouble of the enforcers of life and death in this plane starting to get on their cases. Barry couldn’t do  _ anything _ when he didn’t have the safety of a human form. He basically couldn't do anything when he had one either, since he didn't know what the fuck was going on and he tended to be a stubborn asshole half the time.

And ever since Phandalin, except for the quick excursions to make sure his family was safe gathering the relics, Barry had been stuck in this cave. Stuck waiting, and planning, and hoping.

He knew there were some gods who couldn’t be too happy with himself and the means to which he would go to complete his goals. The fact that he had decided to take a small break that day to spend some time in the sun right outside of his hideout made him think that maybe Istus wasn’t one of them.

It had to be fate, plain and simple, that let him catch sight of the small boy in a bright blue wizard hat, making his way through the  scorched planes. Barry didn’t see a lot of people out here, let alone children, and this one was moving with such intent that he couldn’t help but be curious. It didn’t take more than a thought to turn invisible and move closer to see what exactly was going on. At the very least he didn't want to scare the boy after all.

The child was definitely up to something, constantly checking his surroundings but not slowing down as he moved. It didn’t look like he was running away from something though, more like he was trying to get somewhere. As he got closer Barry could make out more details. A half elf, about ten or so years old he'd guess. The wizard hat didn’t match the rest of his clothes, but the gold stars speckled across it matched the small wand he hanging around his neck.

Barry didn’t strictly speaking have a heart while like this, but it still ached at the sight of this boy. He could imagine, so very clearly, how Angus might look like that now.

One of the boy’s hands shot up to grab onto his hat and keep it from falling off as he ran. Barry saw the silver band around his wrist gleam and felt his entire form freeze.

It was a bracer of Lucretia’s whole operation. Barry had seen them plenty of times, first on the poor souls she sent out after the relics, and then on his family. This child was wearing one, which made him a part of that, and right, no. Barry had seen this boy before. It’d been quick, but he’d been with Merle that night he was visiting his children. Barry hadn’t paid him much mind, he’d been more focused on making sure Merle’s kids didn’t get killed. He'd assumed it was one of his children's friends that they'd brought along or something.

But that wasn't it at all. This boy was a part of the bureau. Lucretia wouldn’t bring a child into something so dangerous without reason, he knew she wasn't that careless. He rushed closer, to where he could clearly make out features.

Now he could see the familiar focused frown on his face, could see the way his ears looked like if someone had taken Lup’s and shortened them but kept the shape. Could see his eyes, god, his  _ eyes, _ he’d always had Lup’s eyes.

Barry could admit, after the fact, that he might’ve acted before thinking rationally. The best course of action probably wasn’t to rush into his path and then drop the invisibility, appearing with no warning in front of him. He wasn’t an excellent decision maker at the best of times though, so that was exactly what he did.

_ “Angus!” _ he’d shouted, unable to contain the joy and confusion at what was going on. His son scrambled back, falling down at his sudden appearance. He hadn’t meant to scare him, but he couldn’t believe this was happening. After so long of searching, he couldn’t believe he  _ found him  _ right when he wasn’t looking _. _

Angus stared up at him, and he looked absolutely terrified, and the reality of the situation came crashing back down around Barry.

Once again, it took all of his effort not to just  _ break. _

—

Angus had no idea how far off he was from Wave Echo Cave, but he still had quite a bit of time before anyone started getting suspicious. Really, the only person he had to worry about was Avi, since he was the only one who’d known he left. Hopefully he got distracted and forgot he sent Angus down here and he could stretch his luck a bit more. He couldn't count on that though, so he had to be careful

Any thoughts about his plans at Wave Echo Cave or how to give himself as much time down here as possibly were ejected from his brain when a billowing red form  _ appeared  _ in front of him. There was no explanation or warning. One moment Angus had blinked and the next there was a red robe in his path and Angus had to stumble to a halt, falling down in an attempt to keep from running into him.

Into the Red Robe.

The Red Robe that had just shouted his  _ name. _

There were a few moments where it hovered there in front of him. The inside of the hood was encased in shadows, so even if it had eyes Angus couldn’t see them, but he could tell it was staring at him.

Oh god. Oh gods what was he going to do? Taako was right. The Director was  _ right _ he shouldn’t have looked into these things, he shouldn’t have gone off on his own. He hadn't thought there was any way for it to have found out what he was doing already but it did. The red robe knew and now he was alone and he didn’t know what to  _ do. _

“Angus, Angus are you-” it started to speak, and his voice didn’t quite match up with the way he looked. It sounded like a normal man’s voice, but that didn’t manage to make this any less terrifying. He knew it was hopeless but Angus shot his arm up, pulling out the concealed crossbow and aiming it at the Red Robe.

“How do you know my name?” he asked, speaking too fast and his voice quivering. He wished he could hide his emotions better. He didn’t want him to know how scared he was. Angus didn’t know what was going on, but the Red Robe seemed to almost deflate some at his actions.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s okay, I promise,” the Red Robe said, but Angus couldn’t believe him. He couldn't, that was ridiculous. The Red Robes were evil. They created the Grand Relics. The director had told him to stay away and he didn’t listen. He tried to scramble to hit his bracer or grab his stone of farspeech without lowering the crossbow from the Red Robe but it immediately noticed.

“No! No please," it shouted and he froze, terrified it was going to attack. It didn't though, and when it continued speaking his voice sounded soft and concerned. "Angus I'm sorry, please give me a moment. Don’t- don’t touch those,” the Red Robe said.

“Are you going to kill me?” he found himself asking without thinking. It helped to be straight to the point most of the time, and he couldn't see why the Red Robe would leave him alive after this. He’d been looking into things he should’ve have and he had obviously found out.

_ “No _ , god no,” the Red Robe insisted though, sounding genuinely horrified at the question. “I would never. I…” it paused, and Angus wished he could see his eyes or something to get a better gauge on how it was feeling. “You’ve been with Lucretia haven’t you? She… she told you I’m the bad guy?” he asked, and Angus had to think for a moment. He had to calm down and think. He didn’t stop pointing his crossbow at the Red Robe, as little good as he knew it would do him.

“You mean the Director?” he asked, and the Red Robe did what Angus guessed was nodding. “You  _ are _ the bad guy. You created the relics,” he said. The Red Robe shifted then, and Angus panicked, sure he’d pissed it off. He sent a crossbow bolt flying at it, but it sailed right through his form.

The Red Robe barely even seemed to notice, its form flickering in odd ways with red crackles of energy buzzing around it. Instead of coming towards to attack like Angus thought he was going to do he sort of settled on the ground in some weird imitation of sitting across from him. Or, not sitting, it almost looked like it was hunched over kneeling.

“Settle down, settle  _ down _ . He doesn’t know, it’s not- he doesn’t  _ know. _ Why would she… fuck. She couldn’t have meant for this to happen. She’s trying her best, she’s trying to help. I can get through this,” the Red Robe mumbled to himself. Angus watched as he he lifted skeletal hands out of his robe and started to rub about where his temples would be, looking and sounding absolutely distraught.

It was… it was beyond strange. Sure, everything Taako and Merle had told him about the Red Robe had pointed that he wasn’t what Angus would expect. Even still he couldn’t quite understand what he was seeing. It seemed like he was trying to talk himself out of a breakdown.

“Angus,” the Red Robe said after a moment, sounding composed again. He couldn’t help jolting up, grabbing his wand and pointing it at him this time, not that it seemed to phase him any. “Can we- would you play a game with me?”

“I might be young but you can’t distract me with games sir,” Angus said. At least some of his indignation at being treated like some dumb kid pushed away a bit of the fear. The Red Robe kind of chuckled at that though, shaking his head.

“No, no I didn’t mean it like that. It’s really not much of a game, but a friend of mine found it helped to uh, facilitate communication,” the Red Robe said. Angus frowned, not sure how he felt about that. It screamed trap from every angle.

Really though, he didn’t have much of a choice. Even if he called down a sphere now it wouldn’t get here immediately, and he doubted the Red Robe would let him leave.

“The friend who had the umbrastaff?” he asked. Once again the Red Robe seemed to almost deflate at the question.

“No… no not her. A different friend,” he said, and it was so strange. He sounded  _ sad. _ Angus was sure the Red Robe couldn’t be trusted to be genuine in the slightest, but it was still baffling. He didn’t know why the Red Robe was bothering with him to begin with.

“What’s this game?” Angus asked, and the Red Robe seemed to perk up a bit at that.

“Okay, it’s not a very fun game, but you work for Lucretia’s whole organization right? So I take it you have some questions, right?” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Finding the answers to questions is my job. I’m actually the world’s greatest detective,” he said, and the Red Robe laughed. It wasn’t a mocking laugh or anything like that, he sounded almost hysterically happy.

“You are? Well shit, I was worried you weren’t going to like this game but it seems like it might be right up your alley,” he said, something like disbelief in his voice. Angus wasn't sure what to say to that, nodding after a moment. He was still terrified and it didn’t matter how strangely friendly the Red Robe acted, he wasn’t going to be lured into a false sense of security.

“What's the game?” he asked again, trying to sound more confident than he was feeling, and the Red Robe seemed to nod sharply this time.

“Right, so it’s real simple. You ask me a question, and I have to answer honestly, and then I get to ask you a question and you have to answer. We kind of keep going until one of us doesn’t want to answer a question,” he said. It seemed simple enough. Too simple.

“What happens when we don’t answer?” Angus asked.

“Nothing, we just stop with the questions,” the Red Rode insisted, before sighing heavily. “Angus, I know considering everything this is hard for you to believe, but I would  _ never _ hurt you,” he said. He sounded like he was telling the truth. He sounded almost desperate for Angus to believe him.

“Who gets first question?” Angus asked, ignoring that. He didn’t know why this Red Robe was so insistent on seeming nice. He didn’t have any idea what was going on anymore. He had to play along though, until he could figure out some way out of this.

“You can go first,” The Red Robe said, and Angus thought for a moment. This was, in all honesty, everything he could’ve dreamed of. He was getting to ask the source of all of his mysteries exactly what was going on. He probably wasn’t going to survive this, but he sure as fuck was getting some answers before he died.

“Why haven’t you tried to take the relics when our reclaimers got them. You’ve had the chance to,” he asked. That one had been bothering him relentlessly.

“I didn’t want to fight them. The damage has already been done anyway, there’s no harm anymore in letting Lucretia gather up the rest of the relics,” the Red Robe said. Very slowly Angus reached down and grabbed his mini notebook out of his pocket, starting to write what he said down. It didn’t seem to bother him any, so he guessed it was allowed.

“Okay, um, I guess you can ask a question now,” Angus said. He wanted answers, but if the Red Robe tried to get him to give away bureau secrets he’d have to end this game, or find a way around answering them straight out.

“Where did you grow up?” the Red Robe asked and that… wasn’t what Angus was expecting.

“What?” he asked back, trying to comprehend  _ why _ the Red Robe would want to know that.

“Where did you grow up? Was it with Lucretia?” he repeated and Angus slowly shook his head. It was so weird, the way the Red Robe kept calling the director by her name so casually like that.

“No, no I only met the Director less than a year ago. I grew up in Neverwinter, with my grandpa,” he said, and that seemed like harmless enough information to give out. The Red Robe couldn’t threaten his grandpa after all, since he was dead.

“Your grandpa?” the Red Robe asked, sounding very confused, but Angus shook his head.

“It’s my turn for a question,” he said, hoping the Red Robe would play by his own rules.

“Right, of course,” he said, apparently alright with waiting his turn. The shadows in the hood had started to lessen somewhat, enough that Angus could make out that there at least was a face back there. What he could see of it looked skeletal and dead and terrifying though.

“Why don’t you want to fight Taako, Merle and Magnus?” he asked. He’s specifically said he didn’t want to, and Angus highly doubted it was because he thought they would defeat him. He couldn’t think of any other reason why he’d be so adverse to doing that though.

“I don’t want to hurt them. I care about them, they’re- they’re good people,” the Red Robe said, and that wasn’t the answer Angus was expecting. He’d said they needed to tell the truth, but that could’ve always been a lie. “My turn?” he asked, and Angus nodded.

“Who’s your grandpa? Does he take care of you, do you like him?” the Red Robe asked, and this was weird. He didn’t know why he  _ cared _ about this. Or, if he didn’t care, why he wanted to know otherwise.

“He wasn’t really my grandpa, but he adopted me when I was a baby. He was my grandpa, he took good care of me. He died a little before I came to work for the bureau though,” Angus explained.

“I’m so sorry,” the Red Robe said, which was strange.

“What did you mean by ‘the damage has already been done’?” Angus asked, ignoring his platitude.

“Straight to the point aren’t you? I can see how you’re a great detective,” the Red Robe said. Angus didn't say anything, waiting for him to answer the question. After a moment of silence the Red Robe sighed and continued.

“It’s complicated, Lucretia only needed two relics for the signal to be strong enough for us to be found. Once she had the glove and the oculus it didn't matter,” he said, and Angus frowned heavily at that, writing frantically in his notebook.

“Signal?” he asked, but this time the Red Robe was the one who shook his head.

“It’s my turn now. What sort of things do you like to do for fun?” he asked, and Angus didn’t understand his line of questions in the slightest.

“Um, well I’m a detective, so I like solving cases. Busting crime, cracking clues and all that. My favorite books are the Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop series, that’s what made me want to be a detective in the first place. Uh, I started learning magic recently, that’s been really fun,” he said, and the Red Robe seemed beyond pleased at hearing all of this for some reason Angus couldn’t comprehend in the slightest.

“What signal? And what is it attracting?” he asked, trying to stay on target. He  _ wanted _ to ask why the Red Robe was asking so many meaningless personal questions, but he needed to get enough important information first. Once again the Red Robe seemed to sigh at his questin.

“It’s the ———— of ——————— and it’s attracting the end of all things, the hunger,” the Red Robe said, and Angus nearly dropped his pencil.

“The what?” he asked, because maybe he’d misheard.

“The ——————————————.”

No, he hadn’t.

That was voidfish static.

“I can’t understand you,” he said, trying to process what that  _ meant. _ He was inoculated, voidfish static shouldn’t be an issue anymore.

“I was worried that would be a problem,” the Red Robe said, and Angus tried to shake himself out of this. This was information, a lack of it technically, but still information he could work with. He’d managed around the static before, he could do it again.

“What’s your question?” Angus asked, his voice shaking somewhat. He needed to keep this going.

“What’s your favorite spell you’ve learned so far?” the Red Robe asked, and at least he was getting used to these odd questions. If anything, they were a nice easy thing to think of to help keep him calm during all of this, even if they didn’t make much sense. He thought over all the spells he’d learned and tried to pick out a favorite.

“Mage Hand was the first one I learned, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it, so I like that one. It’s hard to pick a favorite though,” he said.

“Can I see?” the Red Robe asked, and Angus tried to figure out if that should technically count as another question or not. Some of his had been multiple ones at a time though, so he guessed it wouldn’t hurt. Angus quickly conjured up a mage hand, moving all five fingers in a wave at the Red Robe before sending it over to go pick up the mini crossbow bolt he’d sent flying earlier.

“You’re a natural,” the Red Robe said, inexplicable pride in his voice and Angus shrugged.

“That’s what Taako says,” he said, trying to think of what would be his next best question. He wanted to ask about whatever was blocked out, but he knew he couldn't do that directly.  “Did any other Red Robes survive the relic wars?”

“Only one of us died,” he answered, his voice soft and sad again. So there were more out there, possibly a lot more.

“The one in Wave Echo Cave?” he asked, and the Red Robe looked over at him before sighing again.

“So she really was there? I figured that was the cave Taako meant, but when I went to look there wasn’t anything,” he said.

“I think it’s your turn now,” Angus said, and the Red Robe seemed to take a moment to compose himself before speaking again.

“Are you  _ happy _ Angus?” he asked, and there was almost this tinge of desperation to his question, like this was somehow the most important thing he could possibly know. Despite his better judgement, Angus's fear had settled somewhat. Even though he couldn’t say he was happy at this exact moment, he had a feeling that wasn’t what the Red Robe meant anyway.

“Yeah, I like working for the bureau. I get to solve mysteries and help with something that matters for the entire world, and everyone there is nice. I think Taako and everyone there actually cares about me too. I’m really happy,” he said, and the Red Robe seemed to relax greatly at that.

“Good. I’m glad. I’m so fucking glad you’re happy Angus,” the Red Robe said, and he sounded honest, beyond relieved at that news. It didn’t make much sense.

“Is it my turn for a question now?” Angus asked, and the Red Robe nodded.

“Of course.”

“Why do you  _ care?” _

He knew there were more important things he could focus on, but he couldn’t push that one to the back of his mind anymore. He didn’t understand anything that was going on, and even though he’d gotten to ask an actual Red Robe anything he wanted he only felt like he was even more confused than when he started out. The Red Robe’s form seemed to shift and crackle for a moment before steadying itself again.

“Angus I- I’m so sorry. This was a mistake, what was I  _ thinking? _ ” the Red Robe said before lifting itself up from the ground. Angus brought his hands up in a panic to try to defend himself. He made it mad he knew this would happen he didn’t know why he kept himself relax like that.

There was a long moment where he was cowering, waiting for an attack that didn’t come. Instead, he felt something gently placed on his head. It took Angus a second to realize it was his wizard hat. It must've fallen off when he panicked. Slowly looking back up, the Red Robe was floating in front of him, having apparently returned his hat.

“Try not to lose that hat okay pumpkin? It suits you,” the Red Robe said, and Angus slowly lowered his arms.

“Taako got it for me,” he said, not sure  _ what _ to say in this situation. He’d brought up Taako because in that moment the was the Red Robe spoke had reminded him of the elf. It was hard to place what it was exactly, because he didn’t typically sound like him. 

“Yeah, it seems like him,” the Red Robe said. He didn't know why he seemed to know what Taako was like, or why he talked about all of them with such familiarity.

“Are you going to answer my question?” Angus asked after a moment. He’d lost any semblance of what was going on a long time ago, and as much as he wanted to rebuild some of that he doubted he was going to be able to. 

“You should get back up to the moon. Can you please promise me you won’t tell anyone about this? I can’t stress how important it is no one find out about this,” the Red Robe said, and Angus guessed that was a pretty definitive no.

“Can I get one more question? In exchange for not telling anyone about you?” he asked, and the Red Robe nodded.

“Of course.”

“Are you evil?” he asked. It was a fact he hadn’t wanted to question, but he was the world’s greatest detective, he could see now that the evil wasn’t adding up here. The Red Robe laughed, but this one sounded hallow.

“No, no I’m not evil. I'm sorry I can't tell you more,” the Red Robe said, and that answered his question, but it also didn’t. Every answer he’d gotten during this whole game had done exactly that. An answer but not.

“I won’t tell anyone about this,” Angus said, and he might've even been telling the truth. He wasn't sure yet. Either way, the Red Robe seemed relieved to hear it.

“Thanks buddy. I  _ promise _ , things will make sense soon. I’d ask you to tell everyone hi for me, but this is kind of a secret,” he said, and Angus nodded, not sure what to say to that. The Red Robe didn’t seem sure about what to do either, nodding after a moment before disappearing.

Once he was gone Angus activated his bracer to call a transit canon to him. It didn’t seem worth it to try and get to Wave Echo Cave after all of that.

The glass sphere touched down, and Angus managed to climb inside without anything stopping him. The Red Robe had let him go, and he didn’t know why.

Angus tried desperately to fit the pieces of this mystery together, but it just wasn’t clicking.

Try as he might to think it through, it was useless. No matter how he tried to connect the dots, nothing seemed to work.

Instead of answers, his mind was full of static. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was so excited to get to this chapter y'all i can't even begin to explain. Answers! finally, some forward movement! Angus is In Too Deep and doesn't know what the fuck's going on. Barold is a sad boy who just wants to give his son a hug. Also i gotta show off [this comic](https://amannartblog.tumblr.com/post/170072730745/amannartblog-i-love-drawing-stuff-for) someone made that is a pretty damn close guess of the events of this chapter. It's perfect and ango is adorable
> 
> as always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	22. Counts for Something

When Taako woke up the next day he actually felt almost like a living elf person. He guessed training must’ve been canceled or whatever for today since no one had come to wake him up.

Taako was going to blissfully assume that the vague memory of Magnus knocking on his door and telling him to wake up and him subsequently firing a silence spell at the door was a pleasant dream. No one had hulled in the big guns to come drag him out of bed, so it was probably alright. They’d been training way more than usual anyway, he deserved a break for once.

Not going to training meant he had spell slots a plenty for when Angus came knocking down his door for magic lessons later anyway, so that was a win. Until then, he could take a chance to fucking chill for once.

There was a moment where he was tempted to give Kravitz a call on his stone of farspeech. Which probably meant something since it was over a full day later and he was completely sober at that point. He didn’t though, since it had only been a little over a day and all. Kravitz hadn’t noticed two whole weeks had gone by before, and Taako was not about to be that desperate clingy dude who called like two goddamn minutes after the first date. Plus, if Kravitz wanted this to go somewhere he could stand to do some of the work.

So instead Taako lazily made himself some soup for lunch and waited for Angus to show up for magic shit.

And waited.

And waited.

Magnus and Merle came back from training, and Taako was especially grateful to have gotten out of it when he saw them. They looked exhausted and Taako relented to them demanding to mooch off of his lunch. He’d already eaten about half a bowl with no ill effects, so it was probably safe to eat. And if it wasn’t, he’d die before them and wouldn’t have to face the consequences anyway.

No one died, because his food was fine and had always been fine. Eventually five o’clock rolled around and there was still no sign of Angus. Which was weird. Sure, Taako was thankful for the chance to be lazy and not have to deal with the kid, but it was still fucking strange. Angus wasn’t the type to cancel to begin with, and Taako was pretty damn sure that if he did he was the kind of person to give someone a notice or something. He wouldn’t fucking ghost with no warning like this.

Unless he was doing shit that he’d been explicitly told was a bad idea and not to do. Taako tried to call his stone of far speech, but the kid was either deliberately ignoring him or that shit was on silence. 

Frustrated (he was  _ frustrated _ , at wasting his whole day waiting and shit, he wasn’t worried) he got up and started down to Angus’s room. It didn’t take long to stomp his way there, and he immediately started banging on the door. 

“Agnes McDumbdick you better fucking be in this room right now,” he yelled as he knocked. There was an irritating amount of relief that rushed through him when he heard shifting around inside of the room, and after a few moments the door opened.

“Oh, hello sir. Can I help you with something?” Angus asked, sounding confused at the sight of him. He looked several shades of exhausted, and Taako would wager a pretty copper he hadn’t slept the night before. Glancing past him, the room looked a mess with books and papers strewn about in no real form of organization, which was definitely unlike Angus.

“Yeah yeah don’t try and ‘hello sir’ your way outta this. You know cha’ boy doesn’t appreciate getting left hanging little dude,” Taako said, pushing his way past Angus and into the room. Flopping down on the bed, he saw Angus stare at him for several long seconds before it seemed to click in his brain.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry sir, I completely forgot about magic lessons today,” he said, looking a bit upset at this realization.

“Didn’t realize you were so bored with the lessons to forget, but I get it. You’re all smart and shit, sure you don’t need me teaching you anymore,” he said, making like to get up out of the bed and leave. Angus panicked, running in front of Taako to keep him from leaving.

“No! No sir I swear it’s not that I still want to learn from you,” he said and Taako let himself settle back down again. Teasing the kid was fine and all but he didn’t want to genuinely upset him or anything like that. If anything that was an out in case Angus really was done with learning magic from him.

“Eh, alright but you’re on thin ice,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Can we, I mean, if you’re not busy we can have a magic lesson now,” he said. Taako gave another once over look of him and he looked absolutely exhausted. There were bags under his eyes and he looked like he kept having to blink himself back into focus every couple of minutes.

“Nah, no can do pumpkin,” he said, and Angus visibly deflated some at that.

“I’m really sorry for missing the lesson today sir,” he apologized again, and fuck no that wasn’t what he wanted here. He didn’t want the kid to actually be sad and shit.

“What? No that’s not why we’re not having a lesson, relax will you? It’s pretty clear you’ve been up to fucking  _ something _ in here, and it’s not like cha’ boy’s got the best memory in the world either,” he said and Angus seemed to relax some at that. When Taako mentioned the mess strewn across the room he seemed to jog back to attention again. Moving about the room he started to pick up some of the papers and books and put them in haphazard piles on his desk.

“Right, I was just, uh… why can’t we have a magic lesson?” he asked, pointedly not telling Taako what the fuck he was up to in here. Taako picked up one of the books that had been left on the bed and scanned it. Necromancy and uhdead shit huh? That wasn’t the least bit suspicious.

“Because you look dead on your feet bubula, can’t teach you shit if you can’t even keep your eyes open,” he said. Angus pouted some as he continued going around the room picking up his junk.

“I’m not- I’m perfectly awake sir. I can focus for magic times, I promise,” he said and Taako rolled his eyes. The next time Angus came walking past the bed he grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him up onto the mattress. Angus struggled for all of three seconds before giving into his fate and situating himself onto the bed.

“Yeah sure I completely fucking believe you,” he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. Even though Angus seemed resigned to being stuck on the bed Taako kept a lazy arm around him and proceeded to rest his chin on his head for good measure. It wasn't quite a hug and it was more to annoy the kid than anything. “So what the fuck are you up to here? Must be pretty important to get you all worked up and missing class,” he asked.

“I’m not worked up,” he said, a very obvious lie. “It’s nothing. I just- it’s nothing,” Angus continued to insist. He wasn’t trying to squirm away or anything like that at least, but he really did seem fucking exhausted after all.

“What did I tell you about you being a shit liar? Pretty damn obvious you’re working on something in this shitstorm,” he said. Taako guessed it didn’t actually matter whether or not Angus told him. It wasn’t any of his business what the kid did, and he couldn’t particularly say he cared either. He’d only asked because it was right there in front of him. He’d only come here in the first place because it was so weird for the kid to not show up like that.

With the way he’d been so adamant on looking into the red robes, Taako couldn’t help but be worried he’d gone and done something stupid and gotten himself hurt. That didn’t mean he  _ cared. _

“It’s not-” Angus started trying to deny again, but after a moment he seemed to give up, slumping some against Taako. “I uh, I had a breakthrough in a case. It’s gone and left me even more confused than I was before though,” he said. Taako hummed thoughtfully, that seemed to track well enough.

“You gonna tell your favorite Taako what case we’re dealing with here?” he asked. Angus squirmed in his arms a little at that, but only so that he could look up at him.

“Unless you figured out a way to- a way to duplicate yourself without the oculus ‘m pretty sure you’re the only Taako,” he said, pausing in the middle to try and stifle a yawn.

“Point still stands, don’t dodge the question,” he said and Angus slumped back down against him again.

“I’d rather not uh, I’d like to keep this to myself sir, until I can figure out what some of it means. I promise I’m not in any danger though, I just don’t know what to think about some things anymore,” he said, and he sounded so fucking tired, in multiple ways.

“Mhmm, update me when you figure that all out then,” he said, trying not to sound too invested. He felt Angus nod against him, not actually bothering to answer. He was pretty damn sure the kid was only still awake due to pride at this point.

“Hey actually, if you are feeling up to it I do got a spell I think you could use,” he said, and Angus perked up some. Sitting up, he crawled out of where he’d somehow managed to end up in Taako’s lap so he could turn and watch him.

“Of course sir! I uh, where’d my wand go?” he asked, starting to look around the blankets.

“Relax pumpkin, it’s somewhere in this mess. We’ll find it in a sec, why don’t you just watch the demo first?” he said and Angus stopped looking and nodded. Taako pulled out the umbrastaff, watching as Angus fought to stay awake and focus. “Watch closely now,” he said, casting the spell with a quick flick of the umbrastaff at Angus. His eyes closed and he slumped down into the mattress, the sleep spell taking very quick effect.

“Fucking brat, what am I always telling him about getting sleep,” he grumbled, stuffing a pillow under his head and throwing his blanket on top of him.

With that, he was pretty much alone in the room. He figured he should go. Glancing at the desk, there were still several piles of whatever bullshit Angus had been looking into. It didn’t sit right that he wouldn’t tell him what was up. He’d been fine with confiding in Taako whether he asked or not so far.

Getting up off the bed, he walked over to the piles. Angus was asleep and hadn’t been awake enough to pay attention to where he’d been putting shit, if Taako looked through this junk now he’d never know. It was pretty damn tempting too.

Instead of grabbing any of the notes, Taako picked up one of the dumb detective kid books. Sitting on the bed with his back up against the wall, he flipped to the beginning of the book and started reading. If he wandered around the base too much right now he might run into the director and have to explain why he wasn’t at training this morning, and he didn’t have anything else to do.

Angus was always going on and on about these dumb books anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to see what all the fuss was about. If he read one he could point out exactly what was stupid about it.

——

When Angus had gotten back to the moonbase, instead of going to his room he’d gone straight to the library. He’d already combed through it but that didn’t matter, he needed something right now. So, he’d grabbed every book he could find that could possibly be related, books on the relics and on liches and the undead. Ones on secret magic societies and a whole book on charms spells to try to figure out if it’d been using one on him.

Then he’d taken them all back to his room, and it was late enough that there weren’t too many people around to see him making several trips back and forth to carry all the books. Once he had everything he, well, not everything he needed, he needed  _ so much more _ , but everything he could have, he tried to get to work.

He wasn’t sure how long he spent compiling notes and theories and thoughts adjacent enough that they weren’t lost in static. He was vaguely aware of the sun rising, and then starting to set again, and he knew at that point he should take a break but he was  _ close _ .

Every time his mind got lost in static he knew he was there, he happened upon something but he  _ couldn’t know it. _

And then Taako had showed up and Angus had completely forgotten about their magic lesson and he was so tired. He wanted to tell Taako, he wanted some  _ help _ . He had no idea what to do and he didn’t know who he could  _ trust _ anymore.

He promised the Red Robe he would keep it a secret, and at least for the moment while he was trying to figure things out he would keep that promise.

When he woke up he didn’t remember going to sleep. Blinking awake, he tried to remember the last thing that had happened. Taako was gonna show him a spell, and then…

Pushing himself up, he was surprised to see that Taako was still in the room. He was sitting up at the other end of the bed, reading one of his Caleb Cleveland novels. He looked a pretty decent way through it too, he must’ve been sleeping for a while.

“It really wasn’t necessary to cast sleep on me sir,” he said, rubbing at his eyes to try and wake up more. Taako shrugged, not looking up from his book as he handed Angus’s glasses over to him.

“Maybe actually get some sleep next time and I won’t have to,” he said, and Angus figured he had a point. He had stayed up quite a bit longer than he should’ve there.

“Are you reading my Caleb Cleveland books?” Angus asked, although he definitely knew those covers at a glance. He was surprised to see two other books in the series discarded next to Taako as well.

“Yeah, I’m not sure what you’re so jived about with these things. You’re a better detective than this kid. The one with the missing amulet wasn’t even hard, it was pretty obvious the old grandma lady had slipped it into Caleb’s own shit like halfway through.  _ I _ managed to figure it out,” he said. Angus picked up the book he was talking about and skimmed through it. In the series as a whole ‘Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop and the Case of the Missing Amulet’ was pretty middle of the road. Which, in Angus’s opinion, was still very good.

“I thought it was a clever attempt, most detectives wouldn’t think to start investigating their own things for a case they knew they had nothing to do with,” he said, and Taako just shrugged.

“Guess so,” he said. Angus picked up the other book he’d managed to read while he was asleep, and he knew Taako was smart but it was impressive how he managed to read so much so fast.

“What did you think of The Haunted Tomb?” he asked.

“Woulda been more interesting if the shit was actually haunted. Sure you can figure out how to outsmart some dumb wizard with a couple programmed illusions and thaumaturgy, but what are you gonna do with an actual goddamn ghost?” Taako said. Angus perked up at that, heading over to his bookcase and scanning them until he found the one he was looking for.

“You should read this one!” he said, holding up ‘Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop and the Case of the Undead Double’ for Taako to see. “There  _ is _ some real undead things in this one, and Caleb has to, wait I won’t tell you that’ll ruin it,” he said. Taako took the book, glancing it over before shrugging and setting it down next to him.

“Sure why not, not like I got anything better to do,” he said. This was very much a welcomed distraction from everything with the Red Robe. A part of him still wanted to do nothing but go back to trying to solve the case, but it was nice, getting to talk to Taako about his favorite book series. He was about to ask him what he thought about the one he was currently on (Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop and the Case of the Infernal Intruder from the looks of it) when his stomach loudly interrupted him. Taako’s ears flicked at the sound and he turned towards him with a frown.

“When was the last time you ate bubula?” he asked, and Angus bit his lip as he tried to remember.

“I uh, I talked to you yesterday and then I think I had lunch? And then I went down planetside and-”

“You left the moon base?” Taako interrupted and Angus nodded.

“Um, yes. I had a uh, a break in the case. And then I was in the library and I’ve been in my room since then so um, yesterday after I talked to you,” he said, and Taako was just kind of staring at him for a moment.

“It’s fucking  _ one in the morning _ the next day, you haven’t ate shit in over 24 goddamn hours?” he asked and Angus nodded tentatively. Now that he was paying attention to it, he was incredibly hungry.

“I got distracted sir,” he said, and it wasn’t the first time that happened. He got distracted a lot when he was trying to solve a mystery. It wasn’t usually this bad though, he could admit that.

Of course, the mysteries didn’t usually bother him this much either.

“Yeah alright, that’s bullshit,” Taako said, putting his book down with a huff and climbing off the bed. He still had The Undead Double in his hand though. “Come on we’re getting you some goddamn food,” he added, starting out of the room. Angus followed close after him, pretty sure if he didn’t come Taako would pick him up and carry him. It didn’t take long for them to get back to the reclaimer’s dorm and for Taako to start pulling out pots and pans to begin cooking something. As soon as he’d sat down Taako shoved an apple into his hand.

“Eat this to hold you over,” he said before going back to whatever he was preparing.

“I really am fine Taako, but thank you,” he said and Taako waved a hand dismissively at him.

“Whatever, food is fucking important,” he grumbled, and Angus didn’t say anything to that, eating his apple like Taako told him to. “So, you gonna let me in on what was so distracting you forgot to eat for an entire day?” he asked. Angus took a large bite of the apple to keep himself from having to speak right away as he tried to think.

“Like I said, there was a break in the case and I’ve been trying to figure some things out,” he tried, pretty sure that wasn’t going to satisfy Taako any.

“Yeah sure, but what case?” he asked and that was about what Angus expected. Something was starting to smell good, and he was really hungry but he’d pretty much finished his apple by that point, kind of nibbling on the little bits left on the core.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to talk to anyone about this until I have a better idea of what’s going on,” he said, and that was the truth. He needed to figure out who he could trust.

“Yeah, and exactly how likely are you to fucking die trying to figure out this bullshit on your own?” Taako asked.

“I don’t- I don’t think it’s actually very likely, surprisingly enough,” he said, and that was even sort of true. He’d been certain that the Red Robe was going to kill him, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t even tried. Angus was still trying to figure out what that was about, but it seemed like at least for now, that wasn’t something it was interested in doing. Taako seemed to think that over before sighing heavily.

“Alright fine, but if you end up fucking dead don’t come crying to me,” he grumbled.

“I promise you’ll be the first one I tell when I manage to make sense of it all,” he said, and Taako nodded, seeming concentrated on the food now. Angus hoped it’d be done soon, his stomach was complaining with increasing frequency as time went on and the kitchen continued to smell amazing. His attention was pretty equally torn between that and everything he was keeping from Taako.

It was a lot, and he was the world’s greatest detective, but he was also just a little boy.

“Taako, do you think we’re doing good here?” he asked, and he could see Taako raise an eyebrow as he tasted the pasta dish he had going in front of him.

“You mean with the bureau? Uh yeah, probably. Not sure why you feel the need to ask. I thought you were all for gathering the relics so they couldn’t like, kill thousands of people,” he said and Angus quickly nodded.

“Of course I am Taako! The relics are bad, it’s definitely better for us to gather and destroy them than to let them cause havoc in the world,” he said. They were doing a good thing here, of course they were. He’d seen what the gauntlet could do, they entire world risked being destroyed by the philosopher’s stone, and the damage done to Goldcliff by the sash had been terrible. They’d been so lucky that the Oculus was never used and that they managed to get the Chalice without any  _ permanent _ deaths.

Getting the relics was a good thing, and they couldn’t stop until they had all of them out of the world and destroyed.  

His mind kept jumping back to what the Red Robe had said.

Only needed two relics for the signal of the _______ of __________ to be strong enough to attract the  _ end of all things. _

“Here, eat,” Taako said, knocking him out of his thoughts when he shoved a plate of delicious smelling pasta in front of him. Angus didn’t wait, pushing that line of thought away as he quickly started devouring the food in front of him. Taako had his own smaller plate he was just sort of snacking off of.

“Thanks for cooking for me,” he said after a moment once his hunger wasn’t screaming at him to eat as much as possible as fast as he could. Taako shrugged, looking dismissive of the whole thing.

“Well apparently if I don’t no one will,” he said. Angus continued eating, a little slower now that he wasn’t feeling as desperately hungry. Taako was picking at his food now, and he picked up the Caleb Cleveland book he’d brought with him from Angus’s room and looked over the cover.

“This looks fucking stupid,” he said, which wasn’t a surprise to Angus.

“You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to,” he tried, but Taako had already opened up the book.

“No, I’m gonna,” he said, and Angus shoved a bit more food into his mouth to keep himself from smiling too noticeably.

He still had no idea what he was going to do about all of this, but he trusted Taako, so he guessed that counted for something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be updating other fics but I'm super focused on this one right now. We're at excited fun part and so I kepe writing more. Also angus getting all hyperfocused and forgetting to eat or sleep is totally projection here 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	23. Comfort In Something Uncomfortable

When Angus finished eating Taako shuffled the kid back to his room. Halfheartedly he told him to make sure to get some more rest before tomorrow or else their next magic lesson would be another in depth lesson on the sleep spell. Angus assured him he would and Taako shut the door to his dorm. Putting away the leftover pasta, he grabbed the dumb detective book and headed straight to his room.

Shit was, ugh. He was trying real hard not to think about what shit was. It was dumb first of all, and not worth the effort. He already had enough bull to deal with, he didn’t need to add worrying about some brat on top of it. He was already doing more than he needed to in that regard anyway, going through the pains of teaching him magic.

But apparently that wasn’t fucking enough, because the kid was a walking disaster (like he was one to talk) and no one else seemed to notice that.

Sure, Angus was smart, smarter than most of the sadsacks here. That didn’t mean that a fucking ten year old knew how to take care of themself. Hell, most of the book smart people he knew like Angus didn’t know shit about how to function in the day to day.

And yeah alright, Taako wouldn’t say he was much better. But what he lacked for being a fucking idiot he made up for in knowing that food and sleep were at least somewhat important.

So maybe the next day he made sure to save a couple spell slots during training for the magic lesson he promised Angus. Even though the run the director had been him through was hell to make up for him ditching the last one. Still, he managed to save enough level 1 slots to show Angus Illusory Script. It seemed like a spell he would like, secret messages and junk.

Which yeah, Taako called that one. Kid was excited as fuck for that one, whatever he’d been half distracted with before leaving his mind when Taako told him what spell he was learning. He’d shown up for the lesson wearing the hat Taako had brought him, and he didn’t comment on it, but it was kinda cute he guessed.

Angus seemed pretty damn focused on learning the spell, using up all the energy he had to practice casting it as many times as he could. He tested both with messages Taako could read, and ones he designated he couldn’t to see if it worked. It took a couple of tries, but Taako wasn’t surprised when Angus nearly had it by the time he called magic time to a close.

He didn’t need to, but it also wasn’t any extra work to tell Angus to come eat some goddamn lunch with him afterwards because he couldn’t trust him to do it on his own. Angus insisted he could take care of himself, but he still listened to Taako and tagged along to his dorm for lunch.

And that was kind of how it was for a while. Forced awake bright and early to get beaten to a pulp at the Director’s behest, find Angus at some point in the day, whether it was for a magic lesson or not, and have either lunch or dinner with the kid and try to make sure he actually slept at least somewhat the night before.

After maybe two weeks it had become a pattern, and even if some of it was shit he’d rather not be doing, he couldn’t complain. His life had never really offered the luxury of routine before, and there was something almost reassuring about the easy predictability.

Not that it was completely boring repetitiveness. Nah, if that was the case Taako would’ve lost his mind like three days in. There was still plenty of time in the day where he could do his own shit, or get dragged along to humor Merle and Magnus with theirs.

Now was one of those moments to himself. He was in his room after having washed away the grime from training, and he didn’t have any planned magic lessons with Ango today. Still, he figured he’d find the kid around dinner time and made sure he dragged himself away from whatever secret mystery he  _ still _ refused to tell Taako about to eat.

At that moment though he wasn’t planning on doing anything more than maybe some reading. He’d finished the Caleb Copboy book Angus had suggested to him a while ago (he guessed that one was kinda decent. One of the better ones at least) but he had other shit to could get to. Before he could decide exactly which one, the stone of farspeech on his nightstand started to light up with an incoming call.

“It’s cha’ boy,” he said easily as he answered, not actually sure who was calling him.

“Oh good, you’re available,” Kravitz’s voice came out kind of crackled over the stone. Taako was caught somewhere between excited and worried.

“Very available,” he joked, sitting up in his bed. “Uh well, wait actually that depends, this call for business or pleasure?” he added quickly. Sure, he  _ felt _ like dying about half a dozen times during their dumb reclaimer training, and while he was pretty sure he hadn’t actually done that he guessed he couldn’t be completely certain.

“Oh, um well,” Kravitz sort of stumbled over his words, and from the nervousness alone Taako had a pretty good idea of which one it was. “Pleasure? Oh dear gods, that really doesn’t sound right,” he said, and Taako was full out smiling now.

“Hey my man, those were your words, not mine,” he teased. He’d been starting to think that he wasn’t going to hear from Kravitz again, at least not unless he made the first move. Which he’d been heavily debating on doing. There was something kinda nice about not having to be the one to push things along though.

“And I’m regretting them more and more with each passing moment,” Kravitz said, but for as flustered as he sounded he didn’t seem particularly upset or anything. “But I suppose the point still stands, this isn’t- I’m not calling for work related reasons. You’ve all been uh, very good at not dying. I mean, it’s been barely any time at all but still considering your record it’s an accomplishment none the less,” he added.

“Cool cool, so why are you calling then?” Taako asked, and it was mostly to tease him at that point.

“Um, how are you doing?” Kravitz asked, sounding so fucking uncertain Taako almost started laughing. Aw god damn it, he was totally sober and still thought the dude was adorable. That wasn’t good.

“Eh, could be better. This damn job is wearing me ragged, I’m dead tired,” he said, unable to completely hide the amusement in his voice.

“Was that a- is that a thing we’re doing now?” Kravitz asked, clearly trying to sound like he found that less funny than he actually did. He was also failing in that regard.

“I mean, it can be,” he said. It was easier to talk to Kravitz than it had any right to be. “You still haven’t told me what you want though,” he added. There was no reason to make him spell it out, other than the fact that Taako was kinda an asshole and wanted him to.

“Well, if you must know, I was hoping to talk to you, and um, see you again, possibly. Only if you’re interested in that, of course. I can understand if you’re not,” Kravitz said, adding that last part on quickly. It was like he was afraid if he didn’t make sure to say it Taako would be forced to go along with an unwanted date.

“Ya know, that'd be cool. I’d be down for that, for sure,” he said, and he swore he heard a sigh of relief from Kravitz’s end. “I’m uh, when were you thinking? I’m actually like, free most nights. Madame Director’s got us on that early morning training regiment,” he asked.

“Um, does tomorrow evening work? That’s not too short notice? I’m not- it’s a little hard to schedule around well, death,” Kravitz asked.

“Nah man, tomorrow works great. Spontaneous and shit, I like it,” he said.

“Alright then, good, that’s good. I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Kravitz asked, sounding all hopeful and Taako found himself nodding even though the dude couldn’t actually see him.

“Catch ya then my dude,” Taako said, and there was a short awkward moment where neither of them seemed sure whether or not to say anything else before finally letting the stone line go dead.

And Taako wasn’t, like he wasn’t  _ giddy. _ Sure, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been on a proper date (not counting the last outing with Kravitz), so that was cool. It wasn’t a big deal though, and definitely wasn’t a big enough thing to be noticeable.

It certainly didn’t warrant any smartass comments from people within the first two seconds of seeing him.

“Good evening Taako, you seem to be in a good mood today,” Angus said when Taako ran into him later on. Or well, when Taako knocked on his door on the way to the cafeteria for dinner. It was pretty much on the way, and the brat would obviously forget that eating was something he needed if someone didn’t remind him.

“Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he said, starting to head off to the cafeteria. Angus trotted along after him, and he wasn’t wearing the wizard hat this time, that seemed to be a magic lesson thing.

“You’re in a good mood,” Angus insisted, sounding even more sure of himself for god knows what reason.

“I’m always in a good mood,” Taako said, and the cafeteria was somewhat busy when they walked in. That probably meant whatever they were serving today was halfway decent.

“You know, you’re not a particularly good liar either sir,” Angus said matter-of-factly. “Plus, I am the world’s greatest detective,” he added and Taako rolled his eyes as they got in line.

“Well in that case you should be able to figure out why I’m in such a ‘good mood’ all on your own,” Taako said. It was only afterwards when he was the look of concentration on Angus’s face did he start to regret that. He wasn’t actually interested in telling the kid what was up, but that was clearly taken as a challenge.

“Hmm, did you have off from training today?” he asked, and Taako shook his head. Whatever they were serving today smelled deep fried and covered in grease, so about as tasty as they could manage in a cafeteria.

“No, unfortunately,” he said.

“Did you skip anyway?” Angus asked, and Taako laughed. Okay, at least the kid was smart enough to realize that was a viable option and he absolutely would have.

“Fuck, I wish. Last time I did that though the director ran me so ragged it nearly wasn’t worth it. Like, it still was, but damn it came close,” he said. Angus nodded, thinking this over some more. Whatever, Taako doubted he’d actually be able to guess, since it wasn’t like he’d said anything and he hadn’t talked about Kravitz since he told Angus about the whole umbrella incident.

Moving up in the line, Taako grabbed one of the food trays. Corn dogs and fried mac n’ cheese bites. The amount of grease in these would probably kill someone only a bit slower than actual poison. He could admit they tasted good as fuck though.

“Hmm, so it doesn’t have to do with training, and you haven’t been off the moon base in a while,” Angus mused, grabbing his own plate of food and following as Taako looked for an empty table.

“Oh right that reminds me, no magic lesson tomorrow. Cha’ boy’s gonna be busy,” he said as he sat down, popping one of the macaroni bites into his mouth.

_ “Oh, _ you have a date. That explains it,” Angus said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which only made Taako choke like, a little bit. A barely even noticeable amount of choking.

“What the fuck gave you that idea?” he asked, but he wasn’t denying it so he was pretty damn sure Angus knew he was fucking right.

“It seemed kind of obvious. You were kind of happy like this the last time you had a date with Mr. Kravitz and there’s not a lot of bureau related reasons why you would be busy tomorrow,” Angus explained casually, taking a bite of his corn dog.

“Whatever, it was a lucky guess,” Taako grumbled, continuing to eat his food. Angus seemed a little too pleased at his pouting.

“So, you’ll be out all day tomorrow?” he asked, and Taako shrugged. Kravitz hadn’t actually given him many details, but hey, he could dig surprises.

“Dunno, probably, none of your business anyway. Aren’t you too young to even know what dating is?” he asked, and Angus rolled his eyes.

“I’m ten.”

“Fucking exactly,” he said, and that wasn’t as bad for a half-elf as it’d be for an elf but that was still practically a fucking baby.

“If you say so Taako,” Angus said, not even trying to placate him. It didn’t take long for the two to finish eating and start to head back to their rooms. Angus’s dorm was closer, and it was just routine at this point to walk the kid back to his room.

“Goodnight Taako,” Angus said, and Taako half-heartedly waved a hand as he started to walk to his dorm.

“Make sure to get some fuckin sleep for once,” he called back.

“I will. Have a nice  _ date _ with your  _ boyfri-”  _ Angus shouted after him, definitely at a louder volume than was necessary. With a flick of his umbrastaff the kid was suddenly cut off, and when he looked back was a look of confusion on Angus’s face before he recognized the silence spell around him.

“You were saying? I couldn’t hear you,” Taako teased, watching as Angus huffed at him without any noise. Taako just smiled wider and with that Angus stuck his tongue out at him and gave him a thumbs down before heading into his room.

Taako couldn’t help but laugh at that, before turning and making his way back to his own dorm, a smile stuck stupidly on his face. Damn it, he really was in a good mood today.

That was starting to be a reoccurring thing honestly, and Taako wasn’t too sure how he felt about that.

——

When Angus walked into his room he passed the thresh hold of the silence spell and could hear himself giggling again. He wasn’t sure if Taako could tell or not, but the way he’d been making sure to stop by every day to pester him about magic lessons or to eat was helpful. More than helpful. Sure, it meant he got less work done on trying to figure what was going on in the short term, but it did keep him able to work without burning out. That was something he needed to remember more often.

But even still, after two weeks of trying and searching and roundabout thinking with all the new information he had it was like he’d gotten absolutely nowhere. When he didn’t have Taako around to keep his mind off of things it was beyond frustrating.

He didn’t know what else he could do, and Taako wouldn’t even be around to cheer him up tomorrow. He just wished he had a way to get more answers.

Which. He did have a way to get more answers. It was dangerous, especially considering he didn’t even know how he managed to survive last time, but there was a  _ way. _ He’d been trying to avoid it, keep it as a last resort kind of thing. He never had a chance to slip away anyway, since Taako had taken to checking up on him every day. He sort of wondered if that was intentional.

If it was, it still wasn't a thing he would be doing tomorrow, since Taako had a date. Who knew how long it would be before he had another chance like this.

Flopping down on his bed, Angus tried to figure out what to do.

Pros, it was a chance to get more information. Important information, that he didn’t have any other source for. It certainly wasn’t 100% trustworthy, but he also doubted it was completely lies either. The fact that there was voidfish static still around if nothing else meant something. Something important.

The Red Robe seemed pretty intent on not hurting him either, and even though it could always be a lie the fact that he hadn’t killed him right off meant something. Probably something almost as important as the voidfish static.

Cons, Angus could still totally die doing this.

Also, if Taako or Madame Director found out what he was doing he’d get in a lot of trouble.

Which, those were only two cons, but they were both kind of big ones, especially the first one. Somehow he was more afraid of the second though. If he died after all he wouldn't have to face any sort of consequences.

Except Taako was dating a dead guy who lived in the astral plane now, so maybe he would? He couldn't be sure about that anymore.

Angus knew the smart decision would be to stay on the moon base and not risk something so dangerous on his own.

Angus was pretty sure he wasn’t going to make the smart decision.

The next day he made sure he had his wand, notebook and wizard hat as he snuck out, and he hoped he wasn’t going to regret this.

Sneaking to the edge of the moon base, Angus kept reciting the spell in his head over and over again. Taako had only taught him this one recently, but he’d said he’d had it down pat. Once he could make out the disk of black that signaled they were over Phandolin, he prepared himself. As soon as he was sure there was no one around to see him, Angus squeezed his eyes closed tight and casted feather fall as soon as both of his feet were off of the base.

His speed instantly slowed, and Angus left out a large sigh of relief before opening his eyes. And then he shut them again immediately because he was still very very high up and there was nothing between him and the ground and all he could do was hold tight onto his hat and wait until it was over.

It felt like forever before he finally fell with a bit of a tumble onto land. Nowhere near enough to hurt, the feather fall had worked like a charm. He’d had his eyes closed though and had no idea when the land was actually coming. He was shaking somewhat as he pushed himself back up to his feet and looked back up at the moon base. He knew it wasn’t as high up as it actually looked but he couldn’t believe he did that.

It was a shame he had to keep this a secret, he kind of wanted to brag to Taako about it.

Dusting himself off and trying to steel his nerves, Angus oriented himself with the smooth plane of black glass before starting off in the direction where he’d met the red robe last time. He didn’t move quite as fast as he had before, he didn’t have a very good marker for where he’d seem him, and he didn’t want to miss it.

Eventually he reached what he was pretty sure was the spot, and he wasn’t surprised when the Red Robe didn’t appear out of nowhere again. There was a good chance he wouldn’t end up finding him, but maybe he could find whatever was the reason he’d been around this area in the first place if nothing else. The more Angus thought about it the less he believed it had been because of him.

“Excuse me? Mr. Red Robe, sir?” he called out as he wandered around this little swatch of forest. Once he left the small path he’d been following to Wave Echo Cave before he had less of an idea of where to go, heading in the general direction of the cliff face.

There were probably other caves around here. He didn’t have much to go off of, but he wouldn’t be surprised if a possibly evil lich made their lair in some sort of creepy cave.

“Sir? Are you still out here? I’d like to play that game again, if you don’t mind,” he kept calling, not sure if he wanted to be found anymore. Now that he was out here again, in the forest alone with no one having any idea that he left it was beginning to feel very much like a bad decision.

Before he could decide to turn back though he either got lucky or his luck ran out. He caught sight of a familiar Red Robed figure several yards away. He seemed to be staring at him for a moment before realizing Angus had seen him and starting to head over.

“Uh, hello sir,” Angus said, trying not to look as terrified as he had the first time.

“Angus what- what are you  _ doing _ here?” the Red Robe asked, and he didn’t sound mad, just rather confused. Which honestly he could believe that, it was a dumb thing he was doing coming back when he managed to escape with his life once. Most people wouldn't risk something like this a second time, for good reason.

“I, um,” he was terrified of angering him, but he’d also already come this far. There was no real point in backing out now. “Sir, I’ve been trying to piece together what’s going on from what you told me in our game last time, but I can’t. There’s something- no, I know what it is. It’s the voidfish, another one. It’s not letting me think of the answers and I just, I need more information, please,” he said.

The Red Robe stared at him for a long moment, and Angus wished there was some way to tell what it was thinking or feeling. It’s barely visible skeletal face didn’t give much away though. After a long moment he sighed heavily.

“Gods, Angus I- well, I guess I should’ve seen this one coming,” the Red Robe said, which was a little weird. A little weird pretty much described everything about this though.

“Why should you have seen this coming? Why do you know so much about me, or want to know about me, or whatever this is?” he asked, because after two weeks of having no idea why the Red Robe had been asking so many strange personal questions he couldn’t ignore it anymore. 

The red robe stared at him, and Angus couldn’t tell if he was trying to intimidate him or debating on how to answer.

“I’m ———— ——————,” he said suddenly, and Angus  slumped in disappointment. Whatever he said had probably been a real answer, but it didn’t matter.

“I didn’t get that, static,” he said, and somehow the Red Robe seemed just as disappointed as he was at that news.  

“Yeah, I thought that might happen. I guess that confirms it,” he said, kind of mumbling that last part. Angus wanted to ask what he meant by that, but before he could the Red Robe started speaking again. “Listen Angus, it’s- I’m so glad to see you again. I’m glad you came back here, but you should go.”

“But you’re the only person who can give me answers,” he argued, realizing only after the words left him that he shouldn’t be arguing with a red robe. He should take the chance to leave and run with it before he changed his mind. This was dangerous, he could die here, the last thing he should do was let his guard down.

But despite all of that he somehow kept forgetting to be afraid. This being was a skeletal, phantom lich made of more arcane power than Angus could comprehend, but for some reason he wasn’t  _ scary. _

“I can only tell you so much, you know that. Anything of real importance won’t get through, and as much as I want to there’s nothing I can do about that. Believe me, I’ve tried,” he said, and Angus guessed he had a point there, but he wasn’t going to give up.

“I’ve worked around voidfish static before. Even if I can’t get the whole picture I can get  _ something,” _ he said, and he swore the Red Robe actually looked a little surprised by that.

“You’ve worked around the static before?” he asked, floating a bit closer. Angus nodded.

“They had me join the bureau because I started investigating them and it was getting hard for them to cover their trail,” he explained, and yeah, that was definitely as much of a look of surprise as a lich could manage.

“You started  _ investigating _ Lucretia’s organization before you were inoculated? And you actually managed to figure things out?” he asked, and Angus nodded once again.

“I told you I’m the world’s greatest detective,” he said, and the Red Robe laughed once again. It was weird, from all appearances his laugh should be something horrifying. Instead it was just kinda nerdy.

“I guess you weren’t joking, well damn,” he said, and Angus nodded.

He needed to keep this going. He had to keep getting information here. He couldn’t let himself get too comfortable.

“Why do you call Madame Director Lucretia?” he asked. As much as he wanted to stick to big picture questions, he doubted he’d get any answers he could actually understand out of most of those. He could still get a lot out of the little details though, so that was what he was going to have to work with.

“I mean, that’s her name,” he said, and Angus shrugged. He guessed that was true, but it was still odd.

“Yeah, but no one calls her that,” he said.

“And she would always get on  _ us _ about being dramatic,” the Red Robe mumbled, and that was definitely something telling.

“Were you… did you used to be friends with Madame Director?” he asked, and the Red Robe froze slightly.

“I’m gonna have to watch what I say around you, aren’t I? You really are a great detective,” he said with a sigh, and that was as good of a yes as Angus had ever heard.

“The world’s greatest,” he insisted, and he swore the Red Robe smiled somewhat as he nodded (which alright, that was actually kinda horrifying).

“Of course,” he said, and there was a warmth and pride in his voice that threw Angus. He didn’t know why he was like that, and he didn’t know what to do about it. After a moment the Red Robe seemed to deflate some. “I said you should get going,” he added.

“You don’t want me to leave,” Angus said, hoping it wouldn’t make the Red Robe mad. Thankfully it didn’t seem to.

“Of course not,” he said, although Angus still had no idea why that was. He seemed to debate something for a moment before speaking again.

“Okay, okay. Listen Ango, if you want we can hang out a bit more, alright? Not too long, you need to get back up to the base, but a little bit. And I know you want answers, and I want to give them to you, but I can’t tell you everything right now, alright? We have to wait a little bit longer,” he said, and reluctantly Angus nodded.

“Alright, I suppose that’s fair,” he said, and then after thinking for a moment added, “I know we’re not playing the game, but you can ask me a question if you want.”

“I’d love to,” the Red Robe said, seeming to think for a bit before asking, “how’s learning magic with Taako coming along?”

“Good, he taught me feather fall and illusory script since we last talked,” he said. It was weird seeing a skeletal face look impressed, but Angus was starting to get used to it.

“Really? You picked those up fast,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“I think illusory script might be my favorite so far. It seems like it can be real useful for a detective,” he said, glancing back up where he could faintly see the moon base through the trees. “I used feather fall to get down here though, so that was handy,” he added, and the Red Robe sort of froze again.

“What… what do you mean, you used feather fall to get down here?” he asked, a tone in his voice that adults tended to get when they were trying to figure out if you’d done something very bad.

“I mean, you wanted this to stay a secret right? I thought it might get suspicious if I kept coming down to this area alone, so I used feather fall to jump down,” he explained, trying to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You  _ jumped off the moon?” _ the Red Robe asked, and thankfully he didn’t sound angry. Horrified maybe, but not angry.

“It’s not  _ really _ the moon,” he tried. After staring at him for a moment the Red Robe sort of laughed, running a bony hand over his face.

“Holy  _ shit _ Angus. God, I just- I don’t know why I’m surprised. You’re just like your mother,” the Red Robe said, kind of chuckling in shock and mumbling most of that to himself, but Angus heard it. He heard it and he didn’t… what? He didn’t understand what he meant by that, but at least this time it wasn’t because of voidfish static.

“You… you knew my mom?” he asked, and the Red Robe froze.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun duuuuuun 
> 
> ~~barold you done fucked up~~
> 
> this might be the longest chapter so far? no one was interested in not talking so it all Just Kept Going. we're getting there though, things are happening, answers are being discovered, yes i will keep making seemingly random taakitz detours i swear it's actually kinda important. 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy!


	24. Static

“Wait- wait  _ what?” _ Angus asked, and his mind was spinning and half of his thoughts were drowned in static.

“Fuck. Fuck shit oh wait I mean shoot, damn it, fuck, no frick,” the Red Robe was kind of stumbling over his words, and normally it would be kind of funny to see a powerful lich trying not to say bad words. As it was though Angus was having a hard time focusing on that.

“You can curse in front of me sir, it’s alright,” he said, his mind still addled with static as he tried to piece this together.

“Oh, okay,” the Red Robe said, still sounding a bit confused and conflicted by all of this. Angus stopped frantically trying to make sense of what he’d said. He didn't want to, but the static in his mind was almost overwhelming at this point. Instead he tried to focus on what he could think of. Start with what he could know and move slowly from there.

“You knew my mom? I don’t… how do you know my  _ mom?” _ he asked, because the Red Robe never answered him.

“I uh, shit Ango. I can’t tell you that,” he said, and Angus figured he meant he physically couldn’t because of the static, and not that he wouldn’t. Somehow that was even more frustrating.

“You can tell me  _ something.  _ I can figure this out, I know it,” he insisted. He had to keep trying, he was going to get this. After a moment the Red Robe sighed before moving to a clearer patch of the woods and doing his version of sitting down. He patted the ground to signal for Angus to join him and so he did, making sure to keep a bit of a distance between them. Just to be safe.

For some reason that was becoming less and less of a thing he was worried about.

“How much do you know about your parents Angus?” the Red Robe asked, sounding a bit hesitant.

“Nothing. I don’t know  _ anything _ about them,” Angus told him, and it was true. Normally that didn’t bother him too much. He was more than happy enough with where he was and it was like Taako said, if they couldn’t be bothered to be there for him he didn’t need them.

But right now the fact that he didn't know about them was driving him crazy, because it was somehow tied up in all of this.

“You don’t know anything? At all?” the Red Robe asked, sounding somewhat saddened by that. Angus shook his head, unable to keep his frustration from showing.

“No sir, nothing. It’s not like I’ve ever met them, and I mean- I’ve tried to figure things out of course. I’m a detective, it’s not- I don’t feel like it’s a big deal, I have lots of people there for me. I’ve tried to learn about them though, but there was just nothing. No matter how much I looked I could never figure anything out,” he said, and Angus was starting to feel like he could read the Red Robe some. The way his shoulders were slumped and the tiniest little crackles of red energy around him meant sad and upset. Which yeah, that was pretty relatable right now.

It was so frustrating, not being able to think right. Thinking was the one thing he had, it wasn’t fair.

“I  _ can’t _ know anything,” he said suddenly, sitting up some as it clicked. “I can’t know anything about them, can I? My mom is, no, both of them, you wouldn’t have asked about both if you didn’t mean both, both of them are tied up in this, aren’t they? They were erased by the other voidfish?” he asked. It made sense, and it was just enough for him to actually think it. Whenever he tried to think of  _ why _ static would overtake him, but it was something.

“Uh, yeah… yeah they were,” the Red Robe confirmed, sounding nervous to even tell him that much. Angus stared at him for a long moment, and there was something he was trying to think. Some conclusion he knew was right there, was  _ obvious, _ but kept getting lost in static. He guessed the Red Robe noticed, because he was starting to look kind of worried.

“Hey there buddy, don’t- don’t try and force past the static, you’ll hurt yourself,” he said and Angus huffed in frustration.

“But it’s so  _ annoying! _ I would’ve had this solved already if I could think,” he complained, and the Red Robe chuckled some, nodding.

“I’m sure you would’ve kiddo, but right now we gotta work with what we’ve got, and that's like, not a lot, unfortunately,” he said. Angus sighed, and he guessed that was true. He wouldn’t be able to figure out what was going on unless he managed to find that other voidfish, but he had no idea where to even begin with that. He thought there was only one voidfish in existence.

“So, my mom,” Angus said after a bit, because he wasn’t going to just let this one go. “She was…” static, okay, try again. “She was involved with you guys? She knew the Red Robes?” okay, that seemed to be as close as he could think without getting drowned out.

“You could say that, yeah,” the Red Robe said.

“My dad too?” he asked, and and the Red Robe seemed to almost flinch at that.

“Yeah uh, him. He was definitely um, involved,” he said, which was weird. The way he said that was weird, but Angus couldn’t draw any conclusions from that strangeness.

“Are they alive?” he asked, because honestly he had been wondering that for a long time. He always figured they probably weren’t, but he never had concrete proof of that.

“I uh, I’m gonna be honest Ango, I’m not too sure how to answer that one,” the Red Robe said, and that wasn't the answer he'd been expecting. Angus was pretty sure a yes or no in this situation wouldn’t bring up static.

“Why not? I never knew them, I won’t get upset. Are they dead?” he pressed.

“Eeeeh,” the Red Robe said, waving his skeletal hand in a sort of so-so motion.

Angus stared at him with a look of utter confusion before it  _ clicked. _

“Undead,” Angus said, sitting up straight, ears perked up and eyes wide at the sudden realization. “My parents are  _ undead.” _ He turned to look at the nervous and strangely kind ~~evil~~ lich sitting across from him. 

And static.

“Fuck,” Angus cursed, grabbing at his head as his thoughts were almost painfully drowned out. The Red Robe was near instantly at his side, and Angus should’ve been more afraid of that than he was.

“Angus, hey pumpkin, that’s enough for now, okay? It’s more than- I shouldn’t have told you so much, I’m sorry,” the Red Robe said, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was strange, it didn’t quite feel solid but it was still definitely there. Taking a deep breath, Angus reluctantly stopped trying to follow that line of thinking.

“It’s alright sir, thank you for trying to explain,” he said, taking his wizard hat off for a moment to run a hand through his hair and try to steady himself. He was shaking the slightest bit, and his fear wasn't coming from the Red Robe anymore.

It was coming from the fact that he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do anymore.

“I know it’s a lot to- I know it’s a big ask, but can you please not tell anyone about this Ango? It’s still so important no one know about this,” the Red Robe asked, and Angus nodded. He didn’t want to keep this to himself, but the idea of telling anyone about all of this was also terrifying in its own right.

“I won’t tell anyone,” he insisted. The Red Robe seemed to relax some at that, and Angus hesitated somewhat before continuing. “Can I ask you one more thing though?”

“Of course, I can’t guarantee I’ll answer though, sorry bud. I don’t want to overwhelm you anymore,” he said, and Angus nodded. That seemed fair.

“Can you tell me your name?” he asked and once again the Red Robe’s shoulders seemed to slump.

“I want to Angus, I really do, but I can’t,” he said, and Angus sighed.

“You can’t, or you won’t?” he asked, because he knew there was a very distinct difference here with that. The Red Robe was quiet for a moment before answer.

“Won’t. Sorry pumpkin,” he said and Angus sighed.

“Alright sir,” he said before reluctantly climbing to his feet and sort of wringing the hat in his hands. “I should probably get back soon. No one uh, no one knew I was gone,” he said, and the Red Robe nodded.

“Right, you should… yeah, you should get going,” he said, floating up from his spot on the ground. “It was really nice seeing you again though. You probably shouldn’t come back though. Oh! And  _ definitely _ don’t jump off the moon again, I can’t- gods, I can’t stress that one enough,” the Red Robe said, and Angus found he was smiling despite himself.

“Will I be in trouble if I do?” he asked, and he should- he shouldn’t be so certain that he  _ wouldn’t _ be. That this Red Robe wouldn’t get angry and hurt him or worse. But he was, and he had enough barely there half-thoughts to feel like whatever was being kept from him justified it.

“You will be if someone besides me finds out,” the Red Robe said, and Angus supposed that was fair. “Alright, you should be heading back now,” he added, reaching over and ruffling Angus’s hair with a not-quite-all-the-way-there hand before grabbing the wizard hat and placing it back on his head.

It was weird, like really weird. It kind of made his hair feel like it was standing out on ends and it was also not something he expected the Red Robe to do.

“Alright, goodbye sir. Thank you for talking to me again,” he said, the Red Robe nodded before turning to leave. Angus started back towards the glass disk of Phandolin. As soon as he was sure the Red Robe was completely gone and he was alone again Angus felt his whole form slump with the weight of everything. 

That was a lot. It was so much and he could only kind of begin to think of how much there was that he was missing.

He hadn’t wanted to show it in front of the Red Robe, because he’d stop telling him things, but it was overwhelming. And terrifying. And Angus didn’t know what was right anymore or why  _ he _ was somehow involved in all of this.

He took his time walking back, trying to think about this as much as he could. It wasn’t anywhere near as much as he wanted, but he needed to get his thoughts in order. He pulled out his notebook to write down what he could as he walked.

The Red Robe knew his parents.

His parents were involved with the order of the red robes somehow.

His parents are undead.

(A pause, having to stop and hold his head as the static cutting out his thoughts overwhelmed him for a moment).

The Red Robe was surprisingly nice.

He used to be friends with Madame Director.

He was waiting for something to explain everything (find the second voidfish maybe?)

It wasn’t anywhere near the amount of information Angus wanted, but it was so much more than he had before. He didn’t know what to make of it, but it was something.

It was terrifying and for the first time Angus almost wished he hadn’t looked into a mystery. He didn’t know what he was supposed to  _ do _ with any of this. He wouldn’t be able to figure out this mystery, and he didn’t know how to handle the fragments he did have.

By the time he reached the outskirts of the remains of Phandolin the sun was starting to set. He hadn’t meant to be out this long, he was lucky that Taako was gonna be out all day.

Looking up at the moon base, Angus sort of just stopped.

He didn’t…

He didn’t actually have a plan on how to get back up there without anyone noticing.

Fuck.

Angus tried to think of what he could do. He didn’t have any spells that could make him fly. He didn’t even know levitate yet, and that still probably wouldn’t even work. It wasn’t fly, which he  _ definitely _ didn’t know yet.

He half considered going back to the Red Robe and asking him if he could teleport or dimension door him up there or something. It was such a long walk back though and he was tired and more upset about all of this than he wanted to admit.

Reluctantly Angus called down a transport pod. Maybe Avi just wouldn’t question it.

It took a little bit longer than normal, but after a bit a transport pod landed down by him and Angus climbed inside. As he headed up he tried to think of  _ some _ sort of excuse to give once he got out, but he was exhausted and his head was pounding.

When he landed in the hanger Angus took one last deep breath before the door slid open and Avi was peaking inside.

“Huh, you really were down there. Hey buddy, everything uh, everything okay?” Avi asked, moving out of the way so Angus could climb out.

“Yes sir,” he said, and his smile was shakier than he would’ve liked. Avi nodded but he didn’t seem convinced in the slightest, looking at Angus before glancing over at the edge of the base.

“Right. Uh, how did you like, get down there? I didn’t send you down,” he asked, and that was exactly what Angus was hoping wouldn’t happen.

“It was um, it was just an accident. I’m fine though, I should get going,” he said, starting to slip around Avi to leave before this conversation could continue much more.

“An accident? Wait, Angus did you fall off the moon?” he asked, looking back over the edge and down at the world below again like he was trying to imagine it.

“Talk to you later sir,” Angus said as he ran off, not answering that question. He was fine, Avi could see that, so hopefully he wouldn’t say anything to the director about it.

With that, Angus headed straight back to his room, collapsing onto his head the second the door was shut behind him. He didn’t even bother to take off his shoes or hat. He didn’t have enough energy for that.

He was trying not to think about it, but the more he did that the more it seemed like his brain was insistent on disobeying him. His mind kept wandering back to what the Red Robe had told him.

Back into static.

He wouldn't be able to figure this out. He didn't know who he could trust and he couldn't find out and he loved the bureau but he didn't know if they were the  _ good guys _ anymore.

It was overwhelming, and now that he was finally able to rest Angus didn’t have the energy to keep himself from crying.

——

Taako wasn’t too sure how to handle all of this.

He was actually like, having a good time for once. Even more than that, he was having a good time and not freaking out about it like a dumbass.

Everything was pretty damn stupid and a little ridiculous, and he didn’t expect to be  _ enjoying _ this as much as he was.

It turned out that Kravitz hadn’t given him an exact time or place for the date because he hadn’t planned that far ahead. Taako couldn’t even be like, annoyed by that, it was painfully endearing. So when he called him after training and found that out, and also found out that Kravitz hadn’t done anything recreational in the prime material plane in fuck knows how long, Taako did some impromptu date planning.

It wasn’t anything particularly spectacular or unique, but hey, he had like half an afternoon to figure it out while also getting ready for the whole thing. ‘The whole thing’ ending up being ‘see some shitty play and then walk around Neverwinter to grab a bite to eat or whatever.’

With that decided, Kravitz tore a neat extra-dimensional hole from Taako’s room down to the surface. The play indeed ended up being shitty, the street food they grabbed afterwards a bit less so. That was only because Taako could tell which were the horrendously bad ones from a mile away.

It was almost stupid how nice it was. It shouldn’t be, Kravitz was awkward and Taako was  _ fucking awkward. _ They almost got kicked out of the play because Taako wouldn’t stop making smartass comments that made Kravitz burst out laughing during all of the ‘serious’ scenes. 

So yeah, by the end of the night Taako was pretty uh, pretty damn on board with doing this whole deal again. Kravitz seemed to be too, and that was real cool. Hell, Taako was actually somewhat disappointed when Kravitz said he should be getting back to the astral plane, but he could understand. Work was important, especially when your work was like, literally death. 

“Yeah, I should probably be getting back up to the moon before people start to miss me,” Taako said, pressing the button on his bracer for a transport pod.

“Would you like me to make another portal to your room?” Kravitz asked, right as Taako was pulling his hand away.

“Aw, damn it,”  Taako snapped, looking at his bracer to see if there was any like, cancel button. No such luck though, it was all perfectly smooth metal for the most part.

“Is something wrong?” Kravitz asked, and Taako shook his head with a sigh.

“Nah, I just forgot you did the whole teleport thing to get us down here and called one of our weird cannonballs. They’ll probably get like, freaked if they send one down and it comes back with no one inside,” he explained.

“Oh, well I could stay with you while you wait if you’d like,” Kravitz offered, and Taako kind of hated the big dumb smile that flashed across his face at that.

“Yeah dude, sounds good,” he said. Unfortunately the transport pod got down there pretty fast, so he wasn’t able to chill with Kravitz for much longer. Still, Taako was in like, a stupidly good mood when he reached the moonbase.

Which was only dampened somewhat when he stepped out into the hanger to Avi looking real fucking confused at him.

“Did you fall off the moon too?” he asked, which was uh, a little weird. He kind of gave Taako a quick once over, probably curious about the fancier than normal get up he was wearing. One of the cool things about Avi though was the dude minded his own fucking business for the most part.

“Nah dog, I just magic’d my way down there. Teleportation spells, ya know?” he said, and it was a believable enough thing. It wasn’t even a lie. He guessed he couldn’t blame Avi for thinking he fell, a one way trip up was pretty weird, also…

“What fucking idiot went and fell off the moon?” he asked. Maybe Magnus had got a dog up here after all and the whole ‘they run right off the damn thing’ turned out to be true.

“Angus,” Avi said and Taako froze.

Well, there went his good mood.

He guessed Avi noticed the rapid change in demeanor because he quickly continued. “I mean, the kids fine. I think? Not sure how he like, managed that, but he seemed alright when he got back up. A little shaken I guess but not hurt,” he explained, and Taako nodded a little absently, already starting out of the hanger.

“Thanks cool good to know,” he said, and he was making a beeline straight to Angus’s room. Taako wasn’t so much thinking as he was mentally shouting just about every curse he could think of.

As soon as he reached the door he pounded on it with his fist, and there were a few terrifying seconds before he heard shuffling inside and it opened.

“Oh, um, hello sir. How was your date?” Angus asked, and he didn’t- Taako quickly scanned him over, and he didn’t look hurt. At least not from what he could see. He was standing find. He looked disheveled and exhausted and his eyes were bloodshot, but he wasn’t hurt.

“You _fell_ _off_ of the _fucking moon?”_ Taako snapped, and Angus flinched the slightest bit.

“I- how did you…?” he asked and Taako rolled his eyes.

“Avi fucking told me, come on that one’s not even hard,” he said. Angus’s shoulders slumped some at that, his ears pointed down and looking the fucking perfect picture of dejected.

“Oh, that makes sense,” he said simply, and he sounded so fucking  _ tired. _ It was- fuck. He hadn’t even been drinking, but Taako had spend the whole night slowly goddamn opening himself up and he hadn’t had time to close back up again yet. This was not the fucking time he wanted to be hit with this kind of bullshit.

“You could’ve fucking  _ died, _ you know that?” he said, still trying to sound angry. He wasn’t sure if it was working or not. Either way it didn’t seem to affect Angus much.

“I know. It was- I was fine sir. I managed to cast featherfall as soon as it happened. I’m fine,” he said, and it didn’t sound convincing in the slightest. Taako believed he’d managed to get the spell off in time, there was no goddamn way he’d still be  _ alive _ otherwise, but like shit was he fine.

Putting a hand on each shoulder, Taako bent down some to be on the same level as Angus and look him in the eyes. It was very easy then to see how bloodshot they were, all kinda puffy still from whenever he’d been crying.

“Don’t you fucking scare me like that again, okay Ango? Just- just don’t,” he said, and Angus nodded. There were tears starting to form in his eyes again, but they weren’t quite spilling over yet.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to choke out. His voice was shaking with barely held back tears and he guessed this whole thing had shaken him up something bad.  Angus looked like he was holding himself together by a thread.

The sight pulled at heartstrings Taako had been trying his damnedest to ignore up till now.

“Yeah, I know pumpkin,” Taako said with a sigh, letting go of the tighter than necessary grip he had on his shoulders. As soon as he released him Angus fell forward, wrapping his arms around Taako and letting out a shaking sob onto the really fucking nice shirt Taako had worn for his date.

Somehow, he could only scrounge up the barest amount of annoyance at that, mostly focused on rubbing circles into the kid’s back as he cried against him.

After a bit Taako’s back and knees were starting to hurt from bending over. He wasn’t the strongest dude in the world for sure, and he was pretty sure Angus was past the age where he could be carried. Still, Taako managed to grab a hold of him and heft him up. “Come on now,” he sort of grunted out, and thankfully it was only about three and a half steps to get into the room and onto Angus’s bed.

Angus was still clinging to him crying, and Taako had pretty much accepted his fate of being stuck here for a while. He started carding a hand through the kid’s hair, picking out little knots here and there.

“You’re okay Angus, it’s okay,” he said softly, not too sure what else to do. Crying kids weren’t a fucking thing he knew how to deal with. Absolutely none of this was shit he knew how to deal with.

Angus mumbled something against him, but it was too muffled and choked with tears for Taako to make out.

“What was that bubula?” he asked. After a long moment Angus repeated himself, just clear enough for Taako to understand him this time.

“I’m scared,” he said, his voice quiet and wavering. If Taako’s arms tightened around him and pulled him closer, it was only because he fucking cared about this kid.

“Shh, you don’t gotta- fuck that noise. You’re fine, shit’s going to be just fine,” Taako said. He wasn’t all that sure if he thought that was true in the grand scheme of things, but that didn’t matter much right now.

Right now, he just wanted Angus to be okay. If he needed to lie or bullshit or be all sickeningly open to the kid to make that happened, then that was what he was going to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this chapter immediately after the last one and i told myself i was gonna wait longer to post it but also this fic got 500 comments so like that's a decent enough excuse right? oh, speaking of the last chapter, y'all should go check out [this](https://amannartblog.tumblr.com/post/171404139205/kravkalackin-its-like-midnight-and-i-cannot-take)comic someone made of the last scene because it's absolutely perfect and i love it.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!


	25. Cracks

Angus wasn’t sure how long he spent crying. He hadn’t meant to break down like that in front of Taako, especially since the thing he thought Angus was all upset about wasn’t even a big deal. It was probably bad of him, to mislead Taako like that and make him think he was all worked up over something so small.

Sure, everything he said was true, he couldn’t died if he didn’t do the spell right. It was super dangerous and stupid and he had to get a ride back up to the moon base anyway so it wasn’t even like it mattered. But it had been fine, and the panic he’d felt when falling down was nothing compared to the utter confusion and uncertainty he was feeling from everything else.

But Taako had been worried about him. And for some reason, even though he had more than enough evidence to prove that Taako cared about him, it was still a surprise.

And Angus was upset. He didn’t know what to do and when Taako told him not to worry him like that again for some reason the damn just  _ broke. _

That had been a little while ago now though, he didn’t know how long but it was definitely longer than he thought Taako would put up with. Instead of getting annoyed or trying to pull away though he’d brought Angus to his bed and let him keep crying. Finally though he was starting to get a hold of himself, and trying to hold back anymore tears he reluctantly pulled away some. Not completely out of his lap or anything, just enough to he could rub at his face and try to wipe away some of the tears.

“Sorry about your shirt,” he managed to say after another moment of deep breaths. It was a dumb thing to comment on, but it was the first that he could manage to voice. It looked like a nice one, and Angus remembered that Taako had been out on a date and had probably run over here as soon as he got back. It was all wet and stained now though, but Taako just shrugged.

“Not even a thing bubula,” he said, and grabbing the umbrastaff still hooked around his wrist he cast a quick prestidigitation on both his shirt and Angus’s face. He was sure he still looked all red and puffy, but that actually felt like it helped some. “What’s the point of magic if you’re not gonna use it, am I right?” he added and Angus nodded.

“I guess that’s a fair point,” he said, and he didn’t know what he was supposed to  _ do _ now. He wanted to tell Taako, but he’d made a promise, and he was pretty sure he trusted the Red Robe enough right now that he actually wanted to keep it. Not because he was afraid of what would happen if he broke that promise, but because he wasn’t sure if he  _ should _ be working against the Red Robe anymore.

He wasn’t sure of anything anymore, and it was eating up his mind and he let his head fall back against Taako’s chest in defeat.

“Sorry for worrying you. It really wasn’t a big deal,” he said, although it felt kind of hallow now. He knew it was hallow, because Taako wouldn’t believe him after all that, not unless he explained what the real problem was. He wasn't about to do that though, so it all rang false.

“I wasn’t  _ that _ worried. Avi said you were fine,” Taako said, starting to sound defensive now. That wasn’t a surprise, it was actually kind of a welcomed relief, how normal it was.

“You were wooorried about me,” Angus insisted, trying to tease him despite the way his voice was still kind of horsed and wavering after all of that crying. Taako scoffed, starting to ruffle Angus’s hair a bit rougher than necessary. When Angus tried to push him away it was only halfheartedly.

“Fine, maybe, you don’t fucking know me. See if I ever do it again though, ungrateful brat,” he grumbled, and that was as straight as Taako would ever get to admitting he cared about someone. 

Angus didn’t quite have to force the smile on his face so much at that. After a moment he found himself sighing again, rubbing at his eyes and trying to will away the cry induced headache that was already starting to form. Taako started sort of fluffing his hair back in order from where he’d mussed it up before.

“You uh, you good though? Like, we good here? I don’t- fucking surprise of the century here. I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to be doing with that,” Taako said, and Angus nodded. He was fine. It was- he was fine.

“I’m good sir. It was- you didn’t have to come see me. I appreciate it though,” he said, figuring Taako was probably going to leave soon now. He didn’t want him to, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He shouldn’t be greedy about this.

“Right yeah well, cha’ boy’s just all kinds of magnanimous and shit as always,” he said, definitely sounding awkward about this, which was starting to settle things back into normal. Angus wasn’t sure if that was a relief or not.

“And uh, hey,” Taako continued, surprising Angus. “Would you quit it with the sir thing already? I’m not a fucking ‘sir’ alright?” he said, and Angus frowned some in confusion.

“Oh, I’m sorry? I didn’t mean- is there something else you’d rather I call you?” he asked, kind of surprised Taako would wait this long to tell him to stop doing something if he didn’t like it.

“Just fucking Taako my dude. Like, I’m not- I’m not some fucking  _ stranger. _ You don’t  gotta be all formal and shit,” he said, and it took Angus a moment before he understood.

“Oh. Okay Taako,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“Cool, cool, uh, you should get some sleep. Eat, when was the last time you ate?” Taako asked, and Angus crawled the rest of the way off his lap so he could stand up.

“I didn’t um, didn’t get a chance to eat dinner,” he admitted, because he was pretty sure Taako would figure out if he tried to lie anyway.

“Yeah, had a fucking feeling. Just stay here, I’ll bring you something,” he said.

“You don’t have to, I can get something myself,” Angus insisted, but Taako was already heading towards the door.

“Too bad, I’m doing it and you better still be here when I get back,” he said, and Angus relented and nodded. Once he was alone again, Angus took a very long, deep breath, trying to recover from all of that.

It was- It had been a lot. He guessed getting it all out was a good thing though. He was still worried, confused, didn’t know what to do, but some part of him was a lot less panicked. He wasn’t sure if things were going to be okay, and he didn’t know how he was going to figure this out, but he would. He would find something.

It was entirely possible that he was just too exhausted to be panicked though.

A part of him was tempted to lay down and fall asleep, but if Taako was making him food he didn’t want to already be out when he got back. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to rest his eyes for a few minutes.

Angus pulled at his blanket to wrap himself up, hearing a thunk as something he hadn’t noticed fell off his bed and onto the floor. Looking over, a simple umbrella was lying there.

Oh, Taako must’ve forgotten the umbrastaff by mistake.

He knew he should leave the wand alone, it was Taako’s and he was very protective of it. Still, after all of this, Angus  _ still _ felt like he didn’t have much of a clue about this thing. He’d been trying to learn about it, but he still only knew that it belonged to the Red Robe who died in Wave Echo Cave, who was close to the nice Red Robe. He didn’t know why it sometimes acted on its own or anything like that.

It was frustrating, and he wanted some sort of answer already.

Reaching over, Angus picked it up by the handle and settled back down on his bed. It was a little too large for him to wield properly, especially as an actual arcane focus. It would make a pretty decent actual umbrella though, if he was ever stuck out in the rain.

It really did seem like a normal umbrella, and when he inspected it closer, it seemed like a pretty simple arcane focus. He couldn’t get why there would be something so odd with it.

Taako had been worried about him touching it too much before, but it seemed fine right now. He wondered- he knew Taako would get annoyed at him for using it, but he wondered if that would give him any clues. If maybe there was something there that Taako had never thought to mention to him before.

And really, right now he needed a distraction. Something to keep his mind occupied until Taako got back so that he wouldn’t either get himself all worked up or end up falling asleep.

So, raising up the umbrastaff, he pointed it over to where he’d kept several candles on his desk, Angus went through the motions to cast a quick prestidigitation to light them.

Prestidigitation was not what came out of the umbrastaff.

It was a spell he’d seen before, but not one that he’d ever cast himself, because he didn’t know  _ how _ to cast it.

Scorching ray shot out of the umbrastaff and into his desk, and he felt the wand start to jerk his hand around on its own. Shouting in surprise, he dropped the staff, the umbrella twitching on his bed as it continued to shoot off the spell.

“What the  _ fuck?” _

Angus’s head shot towards the door where Taako was now standing, and the spell slowly petered out. If it had been trying to make some sort of mark like last time it hadn’t managed to. It’d gotten half of a few lines that couldn’t been any number of letters before scrambling out into flaming scribbles, some of them going so far as to cut through the wall. His desk was also on fire, along with any of the notes he’d been keeping there and several of his books.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t- I didn’t mean to, I'm sorry,” Angus managed to shout, tears already starting to come back. Taako quickly grabbed up the umbrastaff, shooting off a few quick spells to get rid of the flames. As soon as they were gone, cool air was starting to blow in from the outside. Angus couldn’t see what food it was he’d brought for him, because he'd dropped the plate and it broke on the floor.

“I’m sorry. I don’t- I don’t know what I’m  _ doing,” _ he repeated, pulling his knees up to his chest and trying to hide his crying as much as possible.

“Fuck, it’s not- how’d you even get the umbrastaff?” Taako asked, and Angus couldn’t quite place was emotion was in his voice right then.

“You left it by accident. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice until after you left. I swear I didn’t take it on purpose,” he said, and Taako sighed heavily.

“Didn’t think you  _ stole _ it Ango, you’re too much of a goody-two-shoes for that,” he said, and that was somewhat of a relief to hear. Peaking up from where he had his head buried up in his legs to see Taako walking over to the disaster area that was his desk. “Yikes,” he said, picking up one book and it crumbled away into ash in his hand.

He wasn’t quite able to keep in the whimper that escaped him at that sight. It was- they were just books, they were probably replaceable. Except he’d taken most of those from the library, and the Director was going to be upset when she found out what happened.

And all of his  _ notes. _ He could rewrite them, it would be fine, but they were- it was just-

He could feel himself start to tear up again, and he guessed Taako noticed because he quickly stopped poking around in the charred rubble and turned back towards him.

“Nope, no more of that. I’m not dealing with anymore of- fuck I’m tired,” Taako said, and Angus sniffled, trying to fight back the tears some more. “Come up, get up. Grab your blanket, and fuck, I don’t know, whatever else you need to sleep,” he added. Angus frowned in confusion, rubbing away several loose tears before looking up at him.

“Um, why si- Taako?” he managed to catch himself at the last minute.

“I mean, you can’t exactly sleep in here. Your room’s busted. Come on, we’ve got a couch. We’ll think of something to tell the director about this mess in the morning,” he said, and reluctantly Angus nodded. Gathering up his blanket, pillow and pajamas, Angus figured that was enough. His wand was still hanging around his neck, he’d never bothered to take it off after all of that, or else he would’ve grabbed that too.

“I think I’m good,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“Alright, come on then Pumpkin,” Taako said. Angus started following him out of the room, stepping over the broken plate of food and closing the door behind him before hesitating. It took him a second before he could place what it was that caught his attention, and by the time he did Taako had stopped walking about was looking back at him, barely noticeable concern on his face.

“Hey pumpkin, everything good?” he asked, and Angus forced himself to nod. His mind was trying to work around the static again.

“Yeah, it’s nothing. You just um, you reminded me of someone for a second there,” he said, and Taako seemed confused for a moment before shrugging it off.

“Huh, someone cool I hope,” he said, and Angus had to shuffle the items in his arms as he sped up to keep pace with Taako.

“Hmm, I don’t think so. I think it’s probably a big dork,” he said, letting himself smile despite the gravity of information he was keeping from Taako.

“Brat,” he grumbled, clearly not meaning it. “What, did I remind you of yourself?” he asked, and Angus had to keep himself from making any too noticeable signs when static started to overtake his mind again.

“No, no I don’t think that’s it,” he said. Taako looked hesitant for a moment, but didn’t press him on it.

Angus told himself that was a relief. Not talking about this was a good thing, as much as he wished otherwise.

—

It didn’t take long to get Angus back to his dorm, fix him up a  _ second _ meal since the first one was toast on his floor, and shove him to his room to go sleep. There was a bit of an argument where Angus started insisting he could sleep on the couch, but shut that down with the fact that he was a whole elf, if he needed to he could mediate. It didn’t seem to satisfy the kid much, but it got him to agree and head off to sleep.

As soon a the door to his bedroom was shut and Taako was alone he fucking  _ collapsed _ onto the couch.

_ What the absolute fuck? _

A part of him was pissed about all of this. It was complete and utter bullshit. He never asked for any of this, and he’d never fucking wanted it. He didn’t even know what  _ this _ was.

He wasn’t mad at Angus though, for some reason that definitely wasn’t what was going on here. He didn’t want Angus to think that either, and honestly that was even more frustration on top of everything.

Shifting somewhat to get more comfortable on the couch, he felt where the umbrastaff was hooked around his arm. Grabbing it, he held it up above him, and he wasn’t even drunk this time but he still found himself speaking out loud like a dumbass.

“You could’ve fucking hurt him, you know that?” he asked the umbrella, and of course, there wasn’t any sort of answer. “Don’t- don’t fucking do that again. Freak out with me all you want, but leave the kid alone,” he finished.

Something in his gut flipped uneasily as he spoke, but he ignored that. He was good at ignoring things, even if it seemed like he’d gotten shitty at it lately. Instead of saying anything else he let the umbrastaff drop to the floor and flipped around so his face was kind of smushed into the side of the couch.

Tonight had been such a nice night too. So much for that.

Taako wasn’t quite able to sleep, and he couldn’t meditate much either, and he was pretty damn sure the couch wasn’t to blame for that one.

The next morning he wasn’t exactly surprised when Merle and Magnus came stumbling out of their rooms bright and early for training. They both seemed kind of surprised to find him out on the couch, but they thankfully didn’t fucking question it. He didn’t explain it either, instead quickly ducking into his room to grab some shit to change into because he was not training in day old date clothes. Angus was passed the fuck out when he went inside, which was more of a relief that he’d want to admit. Maybe he’d wake up before they got back and leave and they wouldn’t have to deal with any of this shit.

Taako doubted it would be that simple, but whatever, he could hope.

Grabbing his clothes, he ducked into their bathroom to get changed and wipe off the day old makeup before heading out to the training area with Merle and Magnus.

“So uh, long night buddy?” Magnus asked as they walked, and Taako grumbled, not in the mood to explain.

“Maybe, I don’t gotta tell you, you’re not my dad,” he insisted.

“Oh! What about me?” Merle piped up, and Taako rolled his eyes that that.

“Closer, but no,” he said, and thankfully that seemed to be the end of that. It was mainly because they got to the training area then and the Director started running them through the shit.

It was just as rough and impersonal as they had been since they’d gotten the chalice. Taako wasn’t sure what had gotten the Director all like this, but it was pretty annoying. It wouldn’t bother him too much, he didn’t need to be friends with his boss after all, if it wasn’t for the fact that he was gonna have to tell her some shit he’d really rather not today.

He could leave it for Angus to do, but like, he was already here, so it wasn’t a big deal.

So, once training was over and the Director started excusing herself to leave Taako run over, cutting her off before she could leave. Merle and Magnus were already heading over to the showers, so he wouldn’t have to deal with them asking questions with all this. Small miracles. 

“Hey um, Madame Director, you like, got a minute?” he asked, and she seemed surprised but nodded, turning back towards him.

“Of course, do you need something Taako?” she asked, still sounding all formal like she had been lately.

“Uh, not not me. Taako’s good, but uh, since I’m here I thought I’d let you know that the boy wonder needs a new room. Or like, needs his room fixed,” he said, and the Director wasn’t an easy lady to read. Even still, he could see a flash of several emotions cross her face before she went back to her deadpan, mostly confusion and worry.

“Is- I’m sorry. What's wrong with the room Angus is currently staying in?” she asked, in that way that clearly meant ‘and how did you break the thing this time?’

“Uh, well it was on fire, only a bit, and some parts of the wall aren’t really wall anymore. Also some of the books he might’ve had from the library probably aren’t in the best shape anymore either,” he said.

“What  _ happened?” _ the Director asked, sounding some mix of angry and horrified. “Where’s- is Angus alright?” she asked, and he nodded.

“Yeah no, let the brat spend the night in my room instead, he’s probably still asleep. It was uh, a magic lesson malfunction. Uh, totally my fault, that one was on Taako. I can probably fix most of, like, most of it. The books are toast though there’s no getting those back,” he explained. The Director nodded before taking a deep breath.

“We’ll get his room fixed and figure out which books were lost, it’s not an issue. Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” she said.

“Okay, cool, uh, catch you later then,” he said, starting to leave.

“Oh, and Taako?” the Director called, stopping him before he could get far.

“Yeah?” he asked, not really liking this situation any.

“I’m glad you care about Angus enough to try to cover for him, but if anything else like this happens again I would appreciate getting the full, true story,” she said, and Taako found himself nodding despite himself.

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled before speeding out of the training area.

He meant to go straight back to his room and fucking hide until he absolutely could not anymore, but he found himself heading in a beeline to Angus’s instead.

He didn’t know what the kid was up to, but he knew he was up to something, and whatever it was it was a big enough secret that he wouldn’t even tell  _ Taako.  _ Slipping inside, he almost didn’t manage to step over the plate of old food before heading over to the mangled desk and bookshelf.

Flipping through his shit, Taako grabbed every notebook and paper that was recoverable and hand written. He was sure most of this was garbage little ‘who’s been breaking into the cafeteria at night to eat the day old muffins before they were thrown out? Surprise surprise, fucking Magnus’ but he couldn’t be too careful.

Once he was sure he had everything Taako started back to his room, stack of notebooks and papers in tow before the clean up crew could arrive.

He didn’t know what Angus was doing, but he knew it was important to him, and probably dangerous. So he wasn’t going to chance some nobody looking through his stuff and ruining it.

Taako was pretty tempted to look himself, but kept himself from giving in.

Angus would explain it to him when he was ready.

He trusted him enough to do that.

—

Lup was getting desperate.

She needed to get the fuck out of here.

It was too much, too painful to sit back and watch. It wasn’t that it was all bad, no, a lot of things seemed to be better. Taako was being better, there was a noticeable difference in him lately, and it was a good thing. He was letting himself get close to people again, and it was such a relief.

Even though he couldn’t remember, even though he had no idea of the truth, he was starting to try to be there for Angus, and that meant the world for her to see.

But that didn’t lessen the ever growing desperation to escape already.

Angus was getting up to something, she could tell he was, and so could Taako. She didn’t- she wasn’t worried about him finding ‘the red robes’ like Taako was. If anything, she wished she could be there when he did. She’d kill for a chance to get to see Barry again, just for a moment. He’d probably do anything for a chance to see Angus too, so on that front, she was kind of hoping Angus would manage to find him.

So yeah, that wasn’t the issue. Angus was so smart, and she was so proud of him for that, but it was obvious this was too much. She could see in the way he tried to deflect in, the same way Barry  used to, that this was bothering him more than he would ever admit. She could see her son, a fucking  _ child _ who shouldn’t have to deal with any of this, being overwhelmed by a mystery that at it’s base was impossible for him to solve.

And so she wanted out. She wanted to explain the truth to Angus. She wanted to remind her brother she  _ existed.  _ She wanted to help Barry, who’d been trapped on his own for ten years.

She wanted to ask Lucretia why she felt she needed to completely tear apart her family.

And after hearing Angus sobbing against Taako for a time she couldn’t place, since time had stopped meaning much to her a while ago, she couldn’t just sit silent anymore.

It was only when she heard Taako shouting and Angus near tears again did she realize what a mistake she’d made. The message that she’d been trying to send was a scattered mess, a ‘B’ barely recognizable before dissolving off into squiggles of nothing. All of her energy was expended on a broken message no one would be able to get.

She could barely focus on anything after that, barely heard Taako scolding her for endangering Angus. The only thing she could think of was how close she’d been. If she’d waited a little bit longer, been a bit more patient, she could’ve gotten through. They were both so smart, even with this block, if she’d gotten her message through, she was sure they would’ve figured it out.

But she hadn't, and the words she'd desperately been trying to send her family kept replaying over and over in her head.

B R E A K M E

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~more like 'break my heart' am i right fella? hyuck hyuck hyuck~~
> 
> i wrote this chapter fast, because i was super excited about it and how close we're getting now. I'm just honestly really proud of how this fic is coming out and i'm glad so many people have been enjoying it with me. we're getting close and closer to the end and i'm just real excited. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!


	26. A Precipice of Sorts

When Angus woke up it was to the sound of a door opening and closing and muffled cursing as what seemed to be books fell to the floor. He was confused for a moment before he remembered everything that had happened the night before, including having fallen asleep in Taako’s room at his insistence.

“Good morning sir,” Angus said, sitting up in the bed. Taako was on the floor, picking up blurry books and pieces of paper Angus couldn’t quite make out without his glasses on.

“Oh, you’re still here?” Taako said, deliberately sounding like he didn’t care. It was pretty easy for Angus to tell that he didn’t mean it though. Grabbing his glasses, he could see the notebooks that Taako had managed to pick up, and felt his blood run cold for a moment.

“Yes, I- are those my books? Why do you have those?” he asked, trying not to panic. It was good that some of his notes had survived that whole fiasco. He couldn’t see if any of those were the ones that had his notes on the red robes, but maybe Taako hadn’t seen those yet if they were there.

“Oh yeah, these things,” he said, gathering up the last bit of papers on the floor before dumping everything in his arms onto the bed. Well, mostly onto Angus, who started to look through all of them to see what survived. It was mainly notes he had on the relics, which was good, since those were for his job and all.

“I told the director about what happened last night, with the umbrastaff going insane and shit,” Taako explained, and Angus tried not to look too afraid of that. They needed to tell the Director anyway, he just wished he’d been there to help smooth it over.

He guessed Taako noticed the look anyway, because he waved a hand dismissively as he continued. “You’re not in trouble, told her I fucked up a magic lesson. I mean, it’s not like she can fire me, this organization needs cha’ boy,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Oh, um, thanks. You didn’t have to take the blame,” he said, looking through the books more and  _ there. _ One of the notebooks he had his notes on the Red Robe in. There wasn’t a lot in this one, it was one he hadn’t used in a while and mostly had stuff on the Red Robe’s connection to the Umbra Wizards. Still, it was something. 

“Eh, wasn’t a big deal,” Taako insisted.

“Um, the books though?” Angus asked, because he still hadn’t said why he’d gone and got these.

“Right, you’ve got some dumb mystery you’re working on right? Super secret junk? The Director said she’d send someone over to fix up the mess, and I figured you didn’t want anyone snooping around in your shit,” Taako said, and Angus blinked a few times as he let that sink in. 

“Did you read any of them?” he asked, and Taako scoffed.

“You couldn’t pay me to read that nerd shit,” he said. Angus knew it was supposed to be because he didn’t care, but that didn’t change the fact that Taako hadn’t looked through his notes. Taako had knew he was up to something, and instead of risking someone finding out he went out of his way to clear out the evidence for him.

Taako hadn’t been happy about what he was looking into, he obviously thought it was dangerous. But he was still covering for him, for whatever reason.

“Thank you Taako,” he said, with as much sincerity in his voice as he was feeling at that moment. It seemed to catch him off guard for a moment, before he shrugged noncommittally.

“Gross, don’t be getting sappy on me kid,” he said. Thinking about the way Taako had gone through the trouble of getting his books, took the blame for the mess in his room. How he insisted he take the bed last night, made him food, and stayed with him when he’d been overwhelmed and crying, Angus could only laugh at being told to ‘not be sappy.’

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” Taako said, rolling his eyes. “Come on, out of bed, breakfast is happening now. Then we’re doing a magic lesson because like fuck are you lazing around here without doing something productive,” he added, and Angus followed without complaint.

He tried to tell himself that he wasn’t still freaked out by last night, but he knew that wasn’t true. Still, it was easier to ignore the panicked uncertainty when he was with Taako.

Over the next few weeks, he ended up being lucky in that regard.

Because Taako seemed to be pretty insistent not to leave him alone for any longer than absolutely necessary.

Angus couldn’t really complain, because he did quite enjoy spending time with Taako. It wasn’t like it was  _ constantly  _ either, after all. Taako let him stay in his room again the next night, but the next day Angus’s dorm was fixed up and he was able to move back. Afterward that the reclaimer’s training seemed to increase even more than it had been in the past few weeks. Often times, when they were together Taako wouldn’t even have enough spellslots for a magic lesson, since they all got wiped in training.

Plus, Angus’s own work had increased as well. They knew the location of the next relic, but the Director didn’t want to send them down to get it yet. She didn’t feel they were ready, which explained all the training. Still, Angus was taking this time to try to learn as much as he could about this next relic, the animus bell. 

There was, as there always seemed to be, a frustrating lack of information.

Still, ever since he fell off the moon there were only three specific situations where Taako wasn’t around. When Taako was in training, when Angus was working with the other seekers (when he was working alone however, Taako usually found a way to end up lazing about) and when Taako was off on a date with his boyfriend (who Angus still hadn’t gotten a chance to meet yet).

Of course, Taako acted like none of this was intentional. Maybe if Angus wasn’t such a good detective he would’ve believed that somewhat. As it was though, it was pretty obvious that it was, and there was a part of Angus that was stupidly happy about that. He shouldn’t be, because he’d gone and scared Taako so much to the point where he was always hovering around him to make sure he didn’t go falling off the moon again.

But it was pretty undeniable proof that Taako cared about him, and that part was nice.

The one thing that wasn’t so nice about all this was that it gave Angus next to no time to work on any  _ less private _ mysteries.

Which, a part of him knew was for the best. He wasn’t- he knew he wasn’t going to be able to fully piece it together. Whenever he tried he’d get overwhelmed and the static would be too much and the frustrating almost-thoughts would drive him up the wall. Being forced to take a step back from it all was a good thing, as much as he hated it.

Still, that didn’t make his desire for answers any less, even though he knew he wasn’t going to get any.

The Red Robe said he needed to be patient, and as much as he knew he shouldn’t trust him, he figured that was the safest bet right now. He seemed genuine in his want to explain what was going on to Angus after all. So, even if he couldn’t fully trust the Red Robe, he could believe that he was working for some way to get the static to stop.

That wasn’t the only reason why he wanted to go to the Red Robe though, as much as it was the biggest one. He could tell how  _ worried _ the director was about this next mission, as much as she tried to hide it behind a professional front.

And if the Director was terrified, he couldn’t help but be too. He didn’t- he couldn’t imagine losing them now (losing Taako, he  _ couldn’t _ lose Taako) and so he just… he wanted more information. Anything he could know about the animus bell, anything that might protect them.

And well, who better to go to for information on the relics than the ones who created them in the first place?

Of course, he couldn’t, because Taako would notice he was gone almost immediately nowadays. 

Still, as it was getting closer and closer to them going on the mission, Angus was getting more and more desperate to find an opening. He didn’t want to use during a date again, because that hadn’t exactly gone, um,  _ great _ the last time.

Unfortunately, it was starting to seem like that was going to be his only option if he didn’t want to risk getting caught. He just had to be more careful this time on how he was getting up and down. No more jumping off the moon.

After a bit of work, he’d managed to think of something he was pretty sure would go unnoticed. Then, he just had to wait for a chance to go through with it.

He hadn’t even realized Taako had a date the night when he finally got the opportunity.

He’d been sitting in the reclaimer’s living room, doing some spell work. Since Taako was running low on spell slots more lessons than not, he’d started teaching him some of the more technical stuff, like how to put together a spellbook and such. Taako’s wasn’t very organized, in fact Angus could barely believe it was an actual spellbook at first. After having it explained though, it almost made sense.

At least, it made sense enough for him to copy down spells into his own spellbook, which is what he’d been doing. He’d been working on transferring over enlarge/reduce, and Taako had disappeared into his room a while ago. At some point Angus heard a shower turn on, and that was where Taako seemed to be currently. That wasn’t too unusual, even with Taako being around constantly, he wasn’t always  _ watching _ him per say. It was more like he just needed to make sure he knew where Angus was.

He’d been completely focused on copying over the spell, so when there was a sudden tear in the empty space in the middle of the room, Angus jolted. He nearly sent bost spellbooks to the floor and lost his pen when it rolled off somewhere.

A portal opened from the tear, and a tall dark man wearing pitch black clothes and a scythe stepped through. The portal disappeared almost immediately, the scythe vanishing after a moment as well. It took Angus a few moments to connect the dots and stop being terrified of this intruder, and in that time the man noticed him sitting on the couch.

“Oh. Um. Hello?” the man asked more than anything, seeming to do a quick glance around the room to make sure he was in the right place. Angus let a smile spread across his face, closing the books in his lap.

“Hello sir! You must be Kravitz, it’s very nice to finally meet you. My name is Angus,” he said, standing up and offering a hand to the man who was obviously Taako’s boyfriend. Kravitz seemed to hesitate a moment before shaking his hand, but it seemed more because of awkward nervousness than anything. His hand was a lot colder than Angus expected, but he didn't comment on it, because that would be rude.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too Angus. I um, I take it Taako has mentioned me then?” he asked, definitely sounding nervous. He seemed like a nice person, Angus wouldn’t have imagined him to be death if he hadn’t met him coming through an inter-planar portal with a scythe and all.

“Oh yes, he talks about you a  _ lot,” _ Angus said with a grin. It wasn’t a lie, and it was pretty funny seeing the somewhat flustered look on this guy’s face. He was sure Taako wouldn’t he happy about this, but Taako goofed on him enough that he could take some back.

“He does?” Kravitz asked, like he hadn’t considered Taako talking about him to be a possibility at all.

“Yep! He really really likes yo-” Angus started, getting cut off when a hand was slapped over his mouth as Taako blinked into existence next to him.

“Don’t listen to a damn thing the brat says, it’s all lies,” Taako insisted, still trying to keep a hand over Angus’s mouth as he fell into a fit of giggles.

“I’m not lying,” Angus insisted, trying to squirm out from Taako’s hold. He’d gone from trying to cover his mouth to wrapping him up so he couldn’t run off.

“Lies and fucking slander,” Taako huffed, and now Kravitz was laughing somewhat as well.

“I’ll try not to take any of the vicious untruths he’d said to heart,” he said, and that seemed to placate Taako some.

“Good, you better not,” he huffed, finally letting go of Angus. He stepped back enough so that Taako would have to put in some actual work in order to grab him up again before speaking.

“I didn’t know you had a date tonight,” he said, and Taako rolled his eyes.

“I don’t gotta tell you everything,” he muttered, moving to pick Angus’s spellbook up off the couch and giving it back to him. “But yes, I do. Take a break and go eat some dinner, alright pumpkin?” he said, pushing Angus towards the door in a clear sign for him to leave.

“Alright, alright,” Angus said reluctantly, even if he wasn’t actually planning on taking a break tonight now. Before actually leaving though he turned back to the two again. “Nice meeting you again Mr. Kravitz,” he said, and the man smiled at him once again.

“You too Angus,” Kravitz said.

As soon as the door was shut behind him, Angus headed towards the hanger.

—

As soon as Angus was out the door Taako gave another huff of annoyance, rolling his eyes before turning to Kravitz. He should’ve made sure to kick the kid out sooner, but he’d gotten busy getting ready and shit. He hadn’t realized the time until he heard the telltale tear of Kravitz showing up and Angus’s way too chipper voice spouting nothing but lies.

“Well, that happened. Sorry about that or whatever,” he said. He didn’t actually care if Kravitz and Angus met or not, he just figured Kravitz hadn’t come here to babysit.

“It’s not a problem at all. He seems like a good kid,” Kravitz said, and Taako shrugged some as he nodded.

“Yeah, he’s pretty alright I guess,” he said. “Uh, you cool to wait a couple minutes while I finish getting ready? You can come hang while I do,” he asked, and Kravitz nodded.

“Of course, that’s fine,” he said, following Taako as he headed back to his room. He was already dressed and everything, he just had to finish his make up and jewelry.

“You know,” Kravitz started after a moment. “This probably sounds pretty, um, pretty dumb on my part. I know you’d mentioned Angus before, but I hadn’t well, realized he’s actually your son,” he finished, and Taako paused in the middle of putting on an earring.

“Haha, what?” he asked, laughing somewhat in disbelief, because  _ what? _

“Like I said, it’s dumb, but it had never occurred to me whenever you talked about him,” Kravitz said, like that explained  _ anything _ about what he was going on about right. “I don’t mind, of course,” he added quickly, like he was worried Taako thought he was judging him. Judging him for having a  _ kid _ . “Like I said, he seems like a very nice boy.”

“We’re talking about Angus, right?” he asked, because he had to be totally clear on that. This was important for him to have completely straight.

“Yes?” Kravitz asked, starting to sound a bit confused, like he wasn’t the one spitting out complete nonsense.

“You think  _ Angus _ is  _ my kid?”  _ Taako asked, having no idea how to be anything but blunt as fuck right now. Kravitz nodded slowly, looking like he was suddenly uncertain about this.

“Yes, I mean… isn’t he?” he asked.

“No!” he shouted before breaking out into more disbelieving laughter. “I mean-  _ no! _ He’s- he’s not- he’s a fucking _ co-worker _ my dude! Holy shit can you even imagine me with a kid? What kind of disaster would that even be?” he said, and at least Kravitz had the decency to look embarrassed about this now.

“Oh, I- well I mean, he certainly seemed to like you back there. So maybe it wouldn’t be as big of a disaster as you imagine,” Kravitz said. Taako huffed, turning back to the mirror to finish putting on his earrings already.

“Listen, if I was left to raise a kid he sure as fuck wouldn’t be anywhere near as functional as Angus is. And let me tell you, the kid isn’t actually all that great at being a person,” he insisted, but Kravitz shrugged.

“Well, that was the first time I’ve talked to a child in at least fifty years? I haven't kept track, but it's been a long while. So I suppose I’m not the best judge when it comes to something like that,” he said, and Taako nodded emphatically.

“You sure as fuck aren’t,” he said, and luckily Kravitz didn’t seem to take any offense. “What the fuck even made you think he was my kid in the first place? Since apparently you weren’t an idiot and thinking he was this whole time,” Taako asked. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that Kravitz has seen him teasing Angus a little and immediately decided that was his child.

“I mean, you know, it was just,” Kravitz said, motioning towards Taako like that meant anything.

“Just what my dude?”

“Well, he looks just like you,” Kravitz said, and Taako blinked in confusion as he tried to let that sink in. After a moment he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Seriously? My dude, I don’t- what, are you one of those people who think all elves look the same? Ango isn’t even a full elf, don’t be racist,” he said.

“Taako,” Kravitz said, a very unamused look on his face.

“What?”

“Taako, I’m a half elf,” he said, pointing to his ears for good measure like Taako might’ve not noticed them somehow up until now.

“I know,” Taako said, because he  _ did _ know that. He just kinda forgot for a minute there. “But seriously, I don’t see it,” he said, turning back towards the mirror again for good measure.

Sure, Angus had eyes like his. Elf eyes, the same usual gray color as his that he rarely saw in other elves. He guessed he had the same darker skin tone as well, and he’d fucked with the kid’s hair enough to know it was the same texture as his own, although nearly black as opposed to Taako’s brown.

And his ears, his ears were definitely as close to Taako’s as a half elf could get.

But other than that, he didn’t look a thing like him. Like, that was barely anything. It wasn’t like- he really didn’t-

“Huh.”

“You really never saw it before?” Kravitz asked, sounding surprised and a bit amused.

“He’s a huge fucking nerd okay, how was I supposed to see past that?” he asked, and Kravitz rolled his eyes. “He’s not my kid though. That would be- that’d be fucking weird,” he said, and he knew that was true. He’d  _ know _ if he had a kid. He was a disaster but he wasn’t that much of one.

“I guess like,” Taako continued, talking more to himself than to Kravtz. “Angus never knew his actual parents. I got a couple of relatives I haven’t seen since I was a kid. They’d definitely be the type to have a brat and abandon him or whatever. Maybe there’s some distance relation there? But I fucking doubt it,” he said. Kravitz shrugged, not like he didn’t care, but like he didn’t know the answer.

“I suppose that’s possible, or it could always be a coincidence,” he said, and Taako nodded. It was just to make sure he was ready for their date. It wasn’t to check anything else.

“It’s a coincidence,” he said with certainty. “Well, ready to head out?” he asked. Kravitz nodded, standing up from where he’d been sitting and waiting on his bed.

“Of course,” Kravitz said, taking his hand before opening a rift down to the planet. Stepping through, Taako pushed any thoughts of Angus from his mind.

Because fucking honestly, it didn’t matter if Angus was related to him or not. Taako didn’t give a single shit if one of the asshole parents who abandoned him was some distant cousin he’d met twice when he was twelve or something.

Related or not, Angus was closer to family to him than any of them had ever been, so what the fuck did it matter?

—

It was getting close, and Barry was trying to make sure he had everything in order. There wouldn’t be much time to act, once everything started going down. He wished things weren’t cutting so close (he wished Lup was here) but there was nothing he could do about that.

He wasn’t sure if it was relief or what when the spell he set up around the area where he’d met Angus both times set off, alerting him that something was out there. He knew he shouldn’t talk to him, not yet, not after how much he’d told him. But well, if his son had come down here to talk to him, he wasn’t going to ignore him.

Heading out to the spot, he didn’t see anything for a moment, and then Angus appeared a little ways away. Barry couldn’t help the smile of pride that flashed across what constituted as his face at that. Invisibility, it seemed like Taako really was working hard to teach him magic.

“Oh, you’re already out here,” Angus said, sounding surprised by the sight of him.

“I sensed you coming,” Barry said. He could explain that he’d set up a simple tripwire spell, but there was no point in completely ruining his cool mysterious air. “You didn’t jump off the moon again, did you?” he asked, and thankfully Angus shook his head.

“No sir, I didn’t- that didn’t turn out too well last time. Taako found out and got upset,” he said, and yeah, Barry could see that happening. “I used invisibility to sneak one of the transit canons while no one was looking,” he explained. Barry knew this was stuff he wasn’t supposed to be doing, but he still couldn’t help but he a bit proud.

He wondered, if he'd gotten the chance to raise Angus if he would've been this lax of a parent, or if this was because he hadn't gotten to see him in so long. 

“Clever, but you know you shouldn’t be here,” he said, and Angus nodded. He didn’t seem scared anymore, and Barry couldn’t begin to describe the relief that caused him. Fear was preferable, it meant that he wouldn’t go looking into things before he should. It meant that he wouldn’t keep sneaking down here and risk drawing attention to him.

But after having everything stripped away, seeing his son terrified of him was edging too close to being too much. It was nearly a final straw that Barry didn’t want to test.

“I know, and I’m not-” he sighed, and it still tore at his heart to see Angus so upset like this, so frustrated. It reminded Barry of himself on their worst cycles, when they couldn’t find the light and there seemed to be no hope or end in sight.

“I’m not here for answers on the whole mystery that the voidfish static is blocking out. I know I won’t be able to figure that out until you manage to make the static go away, right?” he continued, sounding reluctant to give up chasing those answers.

“Yes, and it shouldn’t be long now, I promise Angus, just a little bit longer,” he said, and part of that reassurance was for himself. Soon, it would all be over, in one way or another, very soon.

“Right, but um, I did want to know something else,” Angus said, and that was about what Barry had expected. He knew Angus didn’t- he wouldn’t come here to hang out. He still knew what a danger Barry could be, he still believed some of Lucretia’s lies. So the only reason he would come here was if he needed to know something.

Honestly, that was enough for Barry. He got to see his son, and after so long without his family he’d take any excuse he had for that.

“Well then, what do you uh, what do you wanna know then bud?” he asked, sitting down in the clearing, Angus following his lead. He needed to stop giving away so much information, but if it wasn’t about the light of creation and the hunger, it would probably be safe.

“Um, you said that you don’t care if we gather the relics anymore, right?” he asked, and Barry nodded.

“Right,” he said, and Angus seemed reassured by that somewhat.

“So, if you don’t mind us gathering the relics, and you said you don’t want Magnus, Merle and Taako to get hurt, um,” he hesitated, but Barry was already starting to get where he was going with this. “They’re going after the animus bell soon, and the Director is nervous about it. It’s going to be dangerous. I want to help them but there’s just, there’s so much we don’t  _ know,” _ he said, and yeah, that’s about what he thought he was going to say.

“I want to help them, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said, and Angus perked up some at that.

“Then, then can you tell me about the animus bell some? I just- you all created the relics. If we knew more about what they do, they might be able to prepare,” he said, and he sounded so  _ excited _ to learn about this.

This was honestly, the last thing he ever wanted to talk to Angus about.

“It’s a powerful relic, Lucretia’s right to be worried about them going after it,” he admitted. “It wasn’t- I didn’t realize when I made it that it could be used in something so twisted. I mean, I should’ve, fucking necromancy, right? But it just, I didn’t know,” he sighed, and Angus was staring intently at him now.

“Sir, you were the one who made the animus bell, specifically?” he asked, and Barry nodded. It wasn’t like there was any reason to deny it at this point.

“Yeah, that one’s on me,” he said, and Angus was quiet for a moment. “Like I said, we knew they’d be strong, but we didn’t- we didn’t  _ realize,” _ there was no use in trying to justify it, he knew. They did what they had to, but it still tore him up inside to see the damage they’d done. It hurt all of them.

“Sir,” Angus said, and a part of Barry ached whenever he called him that, so formal and impersonal. “Why did you create the grand relics?” he asked, and Barry sighed heavily.

“To save the world. It was the best option we had,” he said, and Angus was frowning.

“I guess that plan didn’t work out too well?” he asked, but Barry shook his head.

“No, it did. The world’s still here, it  _ worked,” _ he insisted. He knew he couldn’t explain everything to Angus, but he had to know this. He didn’t want his kid thinking that he, that  _ Lup, _ was evil. He couldn’t bare that much more.

“You were protecting the world, from something even worse than the relics?” he asked, and Barry nodded.

“Yes, and we just, we didn’t realize how powerful they would be. We were trying to be careful but it was just- our information was skewed. We didn’t have a big enough sample size, I guess. We were all too involved to be proper test subjects,” he explained. They didn’t realize how bad the thrall would be. They hadn’t the desire to push them to their limits. They’d been trying to think of the  _ good _ that could be done with them.

But no one else had ever been interested in good, because that’s how people were. The true nature of man.

“We didn’t know what would happen, and it had been working. We’d been, we’d been trying to keep things positive, we were trying to convince ourselves it was worth it,” he was ranting now, but he couldn’t stop. He hadn’t had someone to talk to about this in ten years, and he’d been thinking about their mistakes every moment he  _ could _ during all that time.

“Maybe we should’ve realized sooner, but there was no other option. Lucretia’s plan won’t work, and we can’t  _ leave! _ We just can’t anymore, I won’t let them. Lup’s not here and so I have to fix this. I have to Angus,” there was sparks of energy coming off of him now, small ones, because he was upset, but he was under control. He had this, he needed to have this.

Angus was staring at him, and he could see his mind struggling to make connections that were out of his reach, and Barry wished he could help. He wished he wasn’t so damn useless here.

He wished he could give his son a hug or  _ something. _

“We shouldn’t of gotten so comfortable here. We knew- we knew there were risks, that this might not work, but we just… it’d been so long, and we wanted it so bad. And then we got you and it was so  _ worth it _ and I don’t know how to fix this Angus, I don’t  _ know,” _ he admitted, hating the way his voice shook.

“Me?” Angus asked, and Barry hadn’t realized what he let slip until that moment. Then Angus was doubled over, clutching at his head and Barry rushed to his side, rubbing his back as much as he could in this form. It wasn’t enough, it was never enough.

“Angus, I’m sorry, I’m- it’s okay pumpkin. You can’t- I didn’t mean to make you think about it. You gotta stop trying to think about it,” he said, but Angus just shook his head weakly.

“You and Taako both call me that,” he muttered, and Barry wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“Call you what?”

“Pumpkin, you both call me that. Sometimes you sound like him, but I don’t know…” he trailed off, and Barry sighed, continuing to rub at his back and comfort him as best as he could.

“Shh, I know, I know how frustrating it is. Soon Angus, I promise you’ll be able to think clearly soon,” he insisted, and slowly Angus seemed to calm down. “I’m sorry, I got- got carried away there. I haven’t had anyone to talk to about this in a long time. I need to be more careful, you’re a sharp kid,” Barry said, and Angus took a deep breath, steadying himself.

“I’m sure I’ll appreciate it once I can think,” he said, a shaky smile on his face.

“Yeah, I won’t have to explain anything to you then, will I?” he said, trying to sound lighthearted. Angus still seemed to be thinking, trying to figure things out without triggering the static, and Barry wished he could help.

"Lup... is that the red robe who used to own the umbrastaff?" he asked, and Barry almost flinched at that. He hadn't realized he let her name slip too.

"Yeah, that's her," he said, and Angus nodded. Barry wasn't sure what he was thinking, but after a moment he seemed to push it aside.

“Um, so about the animus bell?” Angus asked, and right, right. Barry had gotten distracted.

“It’s a powerful relic, but the place it’s in is just as bad. Wonderland’s run by two liches, and they're well, they're liches,” he said. With that, he began to explain everything he knew about wonderland, as well as his plan for helping the reclaimers through it.

He knew he shouldn’t be giving away his whole plan, but he could tell Angus was worried about this. As he explained what was inside, he could see him getting terrified of sending Taako, Magnus, and Merle in there alone.

So, Barry was going to let him know that they wouldn't be alone.

It was dangerous, but if this information would comfort his son, he’d give him as much as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we're almost there~ next chapter will be wonderland, we're so close people. Also, I've had that whole scene with Angus meeting kravitz and kravitz thinking angus was taako's kid planned since the beginning. it only took 26 chapters to actually get to it. Also, this is the new record for longest chapter. Barry wouldn't stop monologuing, the dramatic nerd. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	27. Sacrifices

It was late when Angus finally returned to his stolen transit canon and started back up to the moon base, his head swirling with the amount of information he'd received. The Red Robe had told him a lot, more than he imagined him ever saying. He told him about the Animus Bell, about how it had the power to twist and corrupt souls, or even force them from still living bodies.

He told him about Wonderland, how it was ran by two powerful and dangerous liches. About the sick way they feed off of the suffering of those they trap inside. It was all frankly terrifying.

(Angus knew the Red Robe was a lich, and he was tempted to ask him what it was he fed off of. In the end he hadn't though, because he didn't know if he would like the answer. He wasn't even sure if he would be able to understand the answer, with how prolific the static seemed to be about the Red Robe.)

But most importantly, the Red Robe also told Angus that they wouldn’t be going in alone. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the whys, but it was clear that he wanted to protect them. So he was going to go in there with them, to make sure they had some sort of backup and a better chance of getting out of there with their lives.

Angus was trying to be optimistic about this. They had a Red Robe helping them after all. As much as he knew he knew, told himself over and over again that he shouldn’t trust the Red Robes, he couldn’t help but feel deep in his gut that he was telling the truth with that. So that was a major advantage, the Red Robe was also a lich, also insanely powerful. He’d created a grand relic, with him on their side, Taako, Merle and Magnus should be fine.

But the Red Robe had still seemed worried. Uncertain, as much as he was trying to assure Angus they would be okay. Angus didn't like thinking about what types of forces could make something as powerful as one of the Red Robes nervous. He didn't like thinking about whatever it was he insisted was coming soon, the 'end of all things.'

When he got back up to the moon Angus recast invisibility on himself. It didn't take too long for him to manage to sneak out of the canon and back to his room without anyone noticing.

Once he was there, Angus began to compile as many notes and information as he could. He’d lost a lot when he’d accidentally blasted his desk with the umbrastaff, although not as much as he'd first thought.  From what he had lost, he’d managed to write down everything important that he could remember. Right now though he wasn’t focused on those things. He was just trying to get down everything the Red Robe had told him as fast as possible.

He wanted to get this done tonight, since he knew there wasn’t much time left before the reclaimers would be sent on their mission. He tried to keep his head clear as he went over everything the Red Robe had told him and began writing it down. It was hard, not trying to think past what he was strictly told, but whenever he did that too much the static would come back, and he didn’t have the time to wrestle with that.

So he kept his focus only on the Animus Bell and Wonderland. Everything he knew the grand relic could do, written in easy checklists. How it could push out souls and allow possession, how it could give the person in control of it the ability to look into your mind, examine your very being and determine what was most valuable to you. How the liches who ran the place used that power to wear the people inside down as slow and as painfully as possible.

Angus put it all together into a notebook, and then carefully started to extrapolate on it. He put down what he knew into what they could do, what they should avoid, anything and everything that might be useful while they traveled through Wonderland.

It was already late when he started on this project, and he wasn’t sure how long to stayed at it. Taako bad been rather insistent on him getting more sleep lately, so maybe that was why he ended up passing out at his desk. His body was somewhat used to being on a schedule.

Whatever the reason though, Angus hadn’t meant to fall asleep, especially not slumped at his desk. When he woke up there was a tinge of panic when he realized how late it already was. He didn’t know for sure when the Reclaimers were going to leave for their mission, but every sign was pointing towards it being today.

Which was why he’d stayed up so late last night working on this notebook for them. It was why he’d taken the chance to go down and see the Red Robe again, because he knew they didn’t have much time left.

Scrambling up from where he’d fallen asleep slumped at the desk, he didn’t bother changing his clothes from what he’d fallen asleep in the night before. He could do that later, right now he just needed to find Taako before they left and give him this information.

Before he ran out of the room, Angus stopped. He’d been debating on it all night, but at this point he didn’t have much left to lose.

Flipping the notebook open to one of the blank back pages, he knew there was a chance they wouldn’t even see it. Angus knew they were all smarter than they seemed to be, they would find it if they needed it.

He was tempted to write down some sort of explanation, to let them know exactly what he’d been working on and doing all this time. To finally tell Taako all about how he'd been going down to meet the Red Robe, about how nice he was, and how he called him by the same nickname. Let him know about the static, how he wasn't sure if they could trust the Director anymore, about the end of all things.

He didn’t have time for that though.

Instead, he simple wrote ‘Trust The Red Robe’ in large letters across the page, before slapping the book shut and running out of his room.

He went straight down to the reclaimer’s dorm first, and he panted somewhat as he knocked on the door and waited for one of them to come answer him.

No one came.

After another few minutes and several more persistent knocks, there still wasn’t any sort of answer. Angus tried to ignore the cold dread building up in the pit of his stomach as he left their door to look somewhere else. Just because they weren’t there didn’t mean they were gone yet. They could still be somewhere on the base, he just had to find them.

He tried to call Taako on his stone of farspeech, to ask where he was and if they’d left yet, but he didn’t get any sort of answer.

Pushing that from his mind, next he checked the training area. It was obvious from a glance though that none of them were there either. They tended to be very noticeable when they were fighting after all, and Angus didn’t waste much time there before moving onto the next place. He ended up running to the cafeteria, and then trying the library, and even dipping his head into the fantasy Costco hoping desperately that they were  _ somewhere. _

When he started to run out of places to check, Angus headed to the Director’s office. Maybe they were in there getting briefed before leaving. He’d been kind of hoping to give them the notebook without her seeing (he hated keeping this a secret he hated not being sure if he could trust her) but there wasn’t anything he could do about that if they were in there. Clutching the notebook tight to his chest Angus nearly forgot to knock on the door, almost walking right in due to his panic.

“Come in,” her voice called when he did knock, and she sounded tired. Walking into the office, the Director was slumped a bit over her desk. She seemed to force herself to perk up some when she realized it was him who’d walked in.

The first thing that Angus noticed though was that the three reclaimers weren't in here with her, and he felt his heart sink some at that realization.

“Hello Angus, can I help you with something?” she asked. There was a moment where he almost considered saying no and leaving, because then he wouldn’t have to be sure yet if they’d left. But denial never helped anything, so he took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yes Madame Director, I’m looking for the reclaimers,” he said, and maybe it was  his fear that was making him sound so formal. He didn’t want to withdraw from the Director, despite how uncertain everything was.

There was a pause before she said anything, but really she didn’t need to. He could tell from the way her shoulders slumped that tiny bit more and the pitying look on her face what had happened. Angus clutched the notebook he’d worked so hard to make for them to try and keep them safe even tighter, feeling nauseous.

“I’m sorry Angus, they already left on their next mission,” she said. The way she spoke it seemed like she was trying to make it sound like they’d left to go to the store or something. Not that they had gone on a dangerous mission where they were likely to die.

“Why didn’t anyone come get me?” he asked, sounding a bit more upset than he meant to.

“Angus, I- It was imperative that they leave as soon as possible to recover the relic. We couldn’t afford to wait, and Taako had said to let you sleep so-” she explained, but Angus started shaking his head.

“Why should Taako get to decide? He’s not in charge of me. He’s not my  _ dad,” _ he blurted out, immediately feeling dumb afterwards. That was such a childish thing to say, and he couldn’t even bring himself to be mad at Taako for this anyway. It wasn't like he got to choose when they went on missions. He was always trying to get him to sleep more and such after all, of course he’d suggest letting him sleep. That didn’t mean everyone else had to go and listen to him about it.

“He’s- I know he’s not, that isn’t- that’s not what I meant,” the Director said. She was stumbling over her words and there was a stricken look on her face that made the static start to crawl in at the corners of his mind again. He had to ignore it though, he couldn't have a breakdown in front of her about that. 

“I’m supposed to be there to help them. I could- I have information, that’s the whole reason I’m even in the bureau,” he insisted. Angus knew he was getting too worked up over this, but he’d been there to see them off for  _ every other mission _ since he joined. He’d had the time to give them any last minute advice he could think of, he was able to- he could-

He always had the chance to say goodbye, in case this was the time they weren’t going to come back. And he didn’t this time.

“Angus, I know you’re worried about them, but I briefed them with all of the information we have. They’re going in as prepared as they possibly can be,” the Director said, but Angus knew that wasn’t true.

Or maybe it was. The director knew a lot. More than she rightfully should, if he was going honest. She’d been friends with the Red Robe, once upon a time. Maybe she really had told them everything.

Angus thought about the hastily written note he’d put in the last pages of his notebook, and he knew she couldn’t have told them  _ everything. _

“What if they don’t come back?” he asked, his voice sounding more broken and terrified than he’d meant it to be. He couldn’t stop thinking about that though. About the fact that he might lose them down there without saying goodbye. Having missed the chance to give them information that could’ve kept them alive.

“If they don’t, then there’s no hope left,” the Director said, her voice quiet. Angus was caught off guard by how raw and  _ worried _ she sounded. He didn’t know what to say to that, so he ended up not saying anything. The desperate hopelessness in her voice reminded him some of the Red Robe. After a moment the Director sighed heavily before seeming to pull herself together again.

“Angus, I’m sorry for not getting you before they left. I should have, but I was focused on other things, although that’s no excuse,” she said, and Angus nodded. It made sense, she was clearly worried about what was going to happen to them down there. He couldn’t blame her for forgetting to get him this morning, or thinking it wasn’t a big idea if he wasn’t there.

“Do you think they’ll be able to do it?” he asked, and it wasn’t that he didn’t have faith in their abilities. He did. He’d seen them all in action, he’d seen the things they’d managed to survive. He knew they were tougher than they looked and acted, but he still couldn’t help but be worried.

“They’re the only ones who stand so much as a chance,” she said, and at the very least Angus knew that was true. He was about to excuse himself, knowing how that they weren’t here and his search was useless when the Director spoke again. “Did you make something for them?” she asked motioning towards the notebook, and Angus nodded. He’d hoped she wouldn’t draw any attention to that, but it was too late now.

“Yes, it’s just the information we have on the grand relic and Wonderland. I thought it might help them to have something they could go back to and physically check,” he explained. It wasn’t a lie, and luckily it didn’t seem like the Director thought it was one.

“That was very sweet of you Angus, I’m sure they would’ve appreciated it,” she said, and he just shrugged. He figured they would’ve made fun of him for it before dismissing most of it and only latching onto one or two important details. Still, a lot of the time that seemed to be all they needed. 

“I think I’m going to go now Madame Director. Thank you for letting me know they already left,” he said. The Director nodded, not stopping him as he turned and left.

Heading back to his room Angus only stayed in there for a few moments, just enough time to get changed and grab a few of his Caleb Cleveland novels before leaving. Once he had those and his wand and such he headed straight to the hanger. When he got there Avi seemed to be a bit worried, mumbling something about a transport pod not coming back, but Angus ignored him.

Without a word, Angus headed straight to one of the corners, sitting down and cracking open one of his Caleb Cleveland novels. It was one he’d lent to Taako that he actually seemed to really like, and it was one of Angus’s favorite too. Try as he might though, he couldn’t get himself to focus on reading it much.

There wasn’t anything else for him to do though. He was just stuck waiting, and Angus had never felt so completely and utterly useless than he had in that moment.

He hated it, but there was nothing he could do.

—

Taako guessed he should’ve known that anything he thought was even remotely cool was actually a horrible, terrible fucked up death trap with no escape. Like, given his general luck luck and all, should've seen this one coming. Of course the one place they went to get a relic that actually had a decent aesthetic was objectively the worst.

Shit hadn’t started off that bad. Like, they sucked, but the fun vibe and cool elf twins balanced it out to being about on par with the rest of their missions. Hell, it was still above fucking up and destroying Phandalin, or that bullshit dying a million times for the chalice.

They couldn’t even be sure if they couldn’t get some of this back. Like, the cool elves said they couldn’t, but of course they would say that. He guessed the Director hadn’t ever managed to get her age back to normal, but maybe she was too busy looking for the relics to figure out a way to reverse it. Point was, losing some fingers and darkvision and a tiny bit of his dexterity wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to them.

And then Taako had a fucking washing machine fall on his ass.

And there’s apparently no goddamn healing in Wonderland.

Suddenly, things were seeming pretty fucking shitty, and Taako was having an ever harder time putting up the whole bullshit happy act.

He was pretty sure something inside of him had fucking ruptured, and he knew that he had at least a couple ribs broken, probably some other shit too. So sue him for being bitter about this. Fucking sue him for choosing forsake. He was going to die if he had to go through something like that again, and after Refuge he was pretty familiar with the feeling of teetering on the edge of death.

Besides, disregarding the fact that Taako simply didn’t want to fucking  _ die, _ they had a pretty important mission here. They were trying to save the world, or at least something along those lines. If a few people got fucked over in the grand scheme of helping everything, shit was unavoidable.

When he cast true seeing on Magnus, it was exactly because of that. Dude had to remember to look at the bigger picture of all this, see what it really was they were fighting for and all that bullshit.

That, and because if Taako had cast it on himself, he was so fucked up he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do anything with whatever information he got anyway.

As it was right now they, they were at the fucking wheel again, and Magnus had gone all old man on them. It was unsettling in a way Taako hadn’t expected. He’d only known him for like a year now about, and he knew humans age fast. Still, watching ten years fade by in an instant made his chest hurt in all new ways.

Without a word, Taako walked up and spun the wheel, wanting to get through this as fast as possible so they could get the show on the road.

“I must say, you guys are really taking this in stride,” the one disembodied elf voice said. Taako shrugged as much as he could without feeling like he was dislodging something even further.

“Just make the best of a bad situation. I got mind,” he said, and then laughed bitter. “Good- good fucking luck finding something of value in there- in the ol’ swiss cheese brain."

“Now, now, don’t sell yourself so short, there are  _ plenty _ of things we can take from you, aren’t there?” the male elf said, sounding cheerful and excited at the possibilities. 

“Indeed there are! Now Taako, you’re a rather selfish person. That’s not an insult! It’s  _ important _ to look out for yourself,” the female elf said, and Taako nodded some.

“Taking care of numero uno,” he agreed.

“Exactly! But it seems that recently you’ve been a bit more magnanimous, haven’t you?” she asked, and Taako shrugged.

“If you can call saving the entire world several times over  _ a bit more magnanimous _ , then yeah, I think so,” he said. He wished they’d get to the point of the sacrifice already instead of beating around the bush, but he couldn't go complaining about that out loud.

“Oh yes! Of course there is that, but we were talking about something a bit more… personal,” the male elf said, and yeah, Taako could already tell this was going to be shitty. “Taako, what’s Angus’s favorite book series?”

“Caleb Cleveland kid cop,” he answered immediately. It was a easy as fuck question after all, the kid never shut up about them after all.

“Right, and it seems you’ve read quite a few of those lately, haven’t you?” the female elf asked.

“Ha! You actually read those things?” Merle laughed, and that was about what Taako expected. Even with all the bullshit going on right now they hadn’t stopped ribbing on each other, and honestly he was thankful for that. Made shit seem somewhat normal, like this was all some big goof they'd walk out of just like everything else.

“Taako, if you accept this sacrifice, we will take away the Caleb Cleveland novels-”

“Thank god,” Magnus muttered.

“You won’t be able to remember them, you won’t be able to reread them or understand when Angus speaks about them. You will  _ lose _ this thing you have with Angus,” the female elf explained. Taako didn’t let himself think this one over too hard. They were already having to do extra spins because of Cam, and Taako couldn’t afford the penalties in his state.

“Yeah sure, they’re yours, take em. They aren’t even that good, don’t get what the brat even sees in them anyway,” he said.

As soon as he finished speaking, he could almost feel the memories being taken away, erased. Something about the sensation was familiar, in a way he couldn't place or think of. Taako’s grip on the umbrastaff was deathly tight, turning his knuckles white as he tried to keep himself from spiraling into a panic.

He didn’t want to forget. He couldn’t- he-

He blinked, and whatever had set off that wave of terror was gone, and he wasn’t going to question it. That seemed to be Wonderland’s whole modus operandi after all.

“Uh Taako, you good?” Magnus asked, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fucking- this can’t hurt me! It’s done! It’s already done, what’s next? I’ll take the other one, gimme the wheel,” he said, already stepping up to spin again, but then Merle was jumping n and they were arguing over who got the last sacrifice. Merle won, which honestly Taako wasn’t too upset by. He couldn’t- he wasn’t sure what he’d lost in the last one, but if they didn’t want him to take the extra it probably wasn’t too great.

Once Merle gave up an adequate amount of garbage they were able to progress through Wonderland. It seemed less like progress and more like another link in a chain that looped in on itself for eternity, but like fuck did Taako care.

Shit was just going to get worse from here on out, but there wasn’t anything they could do but keep moving forward. It was like giving up, but only until they got some chance to break free from this place and blast a goddamn lich in the face with fireball.

When that fucking Red Robe appeared and Magnus insisted they trust it, Taako figured that was as good of a chance as any. At that point he’d had to go and sacrifice some of his looks as well, so he was just ready to be fucking out of there already.

So yeah, fuck it, he’d trust the red robe.

It wasn’t like he had much else left to lose, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all! so, camp nano is this month and i'm finishing this fic for it. like, we're doing this man, we're making this happen. So uh, expect fairly frequent updates coming up till the end here. This chapter was fun to write, i am sorry for harming the boys, I promise things will be happy soon enough


	28. The Necessary Thing

Taako was real fucking tired of Wonderland. He was quite possibly more tired of Wonderland than he’d ever been of something in his life. This place sucked, he wanted out, everything was terrible forever.

Eventually though, after what felt like forever but Taako knew had been less than a day overall, they managed it. Shit wasn’t  _ good, _ Magnus was a mannequin and they still lot a hell of a lot of shit and now the Red Robe was sticking around and being weird, but they were out. They got out and got a bunch of other people out as well, which was like, good. So now they needed to get back to the base so they could figure out how to fix all the other shit that had gone wrong.

Taako hadn’t even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief when his stone of farspeech was crackling to life. He could hear Angus calling out to them on the other end of the line, asking if they were there and okay. He was going to answer when the Red Robe stopped them, clearly asking for their stones. Taako was a hair away from snapping at the dude to fuck off when Magnus was telling them to listen to him.

He didn’t trust this fuck. He didn’t want to give him his stone in case shit went wrong and they needed to contact someone (he hadn’t gotten a chance to try to call Kravitz, although he wasn’t sure if there was much of a point in that now. He’d seen what was going on in the astral plane, and it looked bad.)

Still, he handed over the stone. It felt wrong as fuck, he at least wanted to let Angus know they were like,  _ alive _ , but Magnus was insistent. Taako was going to go out on a limb and trust that he knew what he was doing. 

The Red Robe seemed to be about to destroy them, and then there was a moment of hesitation. Angus’s voice was getting more and more urgent and upset the longer they went without answering, and Taako was about ready to snatch his stone back when the Red Robe spoke.

“Angus, are you alone?” he said, speaking quietly like he was afraid of someone overhearing.

“Hey creep, how about you don’t talk to the kid,” Taako snapped, because he didn’t like this in the slightest. How the fuck did the Red Robe know Ango’s name, for one thing.

“Oh, it’s you,” Angus’s voice came over the stone, and he didn’t sound that surprised about that. Yeah, this was fucking shit, Taako kind of hated this. “Yes, I’m alone, was that Taako?” he continued.

“Yes, that’s Taak-”

“Yeah it’s fucking me and we’re gonna have words when I get back, how the  _ fuck _ do you know the Red Robe?” Taako cut in. When he tried to grab his stone of farspeech back the Red Robe kind of floated up and out of his reach, which was annoying. “That’s cheating. I can fly too motherfucker, you’re lucky fighting liches used up so many goddamn spell slots."

“Uh, sorry Taako! I’ll explain later,” Angus called, and Taako was real irritated at not being explained to now. He could barely hear Angus at the moment with fucking spooky ghost man floating up above their heads like he was though.

“Angus,” the Red Robe continued. “I have them with me, and they’re safe, but I’m going to need you to keep this a secret for a little bit longer,” he said. Taako could imagine the kid nodding all serious on the other end. 

“Alright sir,” Angus said, and with that the Red Robe crushed all three of their stones of farspeech without so much as a goodbye.

“I’m sorry, I know that you all must have a lot of questions. I promise I’ll answer them soon but for now we need to get moving. There isn’t much time left,” he said, looking at all three of them.

“Oh, I forgot something else,” he added, before pulling out a coin and saying. “You’ll need to disguise Magnus, obviously, and don’t let anyone touch him, or we’ll be discovered.”

It didn’t make much sense, and Taako was in pain and tired and frustrated as fuck from their time in Wonderland. So he let it go for now, following the Red Robe through the woods and hating pretty much every moment of it, until they finally made camp for the night. The Red Robe, surprise surprise, didn’t seem to be too talkative a person. Still, Taako waited they were camped for the night, when Mangus seemed to be kinda out of it adjusting to being a mannequin and Merle was patching up his wounds from Wonderland. Once shit seemed calm enough Taako walked off a bit, staring at the Red Robe until he looked over and then motioned him to come along. He seemed reluctant but eventually floated over. 

“Hey redcoat asshole,  _ listen, _ I know you’ve been saying that you can’t explain shit yet and blah blah, but you mind explaining how the fuck you know Ango?” he asked, because that wouldn’t leave his mind. Angus instantly realized who he was talking to, and he even seemed to  _ trust _ this fuck.

Taako knew Angus had been looking into the Red Robes and all, but how the hell had he missed something so huge. 

“God, Taako I wish I could explain the whole story,” the Red Robe said, and Taako was so tired of the cryptic bullshit. He just wanted some straight fucking answers so that he didn’t have to be worried the brat was going to get himself killed or some shit.

“Then fucking explain homeboy. What the  _ fuck _ were you doing with Angus?” he snapped, and he shouldn’t be caring so much about this, but up until this point they were sure this was the bad guy. Taako still didn’t trust shit, certainly not this douche. He didn't trust the Red Robes and he didn't trust the BoB, he didn't trust shit anymore. The Red Robe sighed, and something about the tired and exasperated tone seemed almost familiar, but Taako pushed that aside for now. It wasn’t important.

“Angus came to me for information. I gave as much as I could to him, simple as that,” the Red Robe said, and Taako wasn’t happy with that answer. It wasn’t anywhere near specific or clear enough.

“How many times have you met up with him?” he asked.

“Three, I tried to tell him not to come back after the first time, but he’s stubborn,” he said, and well Taako could at least agree with that. The brat was way too stubborn and persistent for his own good. The idea that he’d gone to meet up with this bastard three fucking times without him having any idea sent a chill down Taako’s spine, unnerving him in a way he very much didn’t appreciate.

Three goddamn times. If this dude wanted to, that was three time he could’ve killed Angus without anyone realizing until who knows how much time later. Taako had been trying to keep an eye on the kid, but apparently he hadn’t been anywhere near good enough at that.

Which, of course he hadn’t. Taako couldn’t take care of his own damn self, what kind of delusion did he have thinking he could keep track of someone else?

“Taako, I know I’m asking a- I know this is a lot right now, but I just want you to know that I’d never hurt him. You- you gotta know that, right?” the Red Robe asked, and there was a tinge of desperation in his voice. Fucking hell, Taako had such a goddamn headache. Merle's healing even after they got out of Wonderland had been especially shit lately.

“I don’t know a damn thing about you, but sure. If you wanted to hurt the kid, you would’ve had a chance to by now,” he said, still reluctant as fuck about all of this. Something in his chest hurt, and throughout the entire conversation he had a death grip on the umbrastaff. He figured it was because if he said the wrong thing and pissed this dude off he wanted to be prepared to defend himself.

“I- well, I guess that’s good enough for now,” the Red Robe sighed, and thunder cracked overhead from the weird frozen looking storm that hung in the air.

“And Taako? I know- I know this doesn’t mean much to you, at least not right now, but just… thanks. For looking out for him as much as you could, it means a lot,” the Red Robe added, and it felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart and Taako didn’t know  _ why. _

“Yeah, sure,” he grumbled before getting up and heading to the other side of the camp. He was done talking to this dude. He didn’t- it was unsettling something in him that he couldn’t place, and he kind of hated it. Asshole wasn’t making any sense, what did he care about the kid for anyway?

He wanted to get out his stone of farspeech and call Angus for a proper fucking explanation about all of this. He couldn’t though because the asshole had gone and destroyed it. Which was probably for the best, since they were doing shit they shouldn’t be right now and all that junk, but it was still goddamn awful.

Taako didn’t quite manage to sleep that night, just getting in some choppy meditation, but it was enough. The next day they got up and the Red Robe kept on leading them through the forest, and after a bit they reached a cave. The inside looked exactly like something a lich ghost would have set up. All creepy jars and notes in unreadable languages and maps full of points and connections between those points.

It was all pretty damn predictable, until Barry motherfucking Bluejeans came tumbling out of the weird pod in the center of the room, with as little of an idea as to what was going on as the rest of them did.

Which, fucking fine. Shit had stopped making any sort of sense to Taako a while ago. That one dude with the stupid name they met way back in Phandalin who fucking died was the Red Robe, sure, why the fuck not? As they made some sort of half baked plan in order to get back up to the moonbase without mannequin Magnus being noticed Taako rubbed at his temples. He had a low grade headache that would not go away for the life of him.

When he put the telepathy band on so he could stay in contact with Magnus, he heard a voice he knew but couldn’t place telling him to trust Barry. It sounded desperate and panicked and it left him feeling somewhere being breaking down in relief and tearing the band off to get it to stop.

He didn’t do either though, and it stopped soon enough, and Taako didn’t know what the fuck anymore.

He didn’t know what they were doing, or why, or who the fuck he was supposed to trust during all of this. But he guessed none of that really mattered, they just had to go along with it at this point and home that soon enough things would start making sense.

As they headed up to the moonbase, Taako was just hoping he could manage to grab Angus for a minute once they were up there.

If there was anyone who could figure out this tangled mess of bullshit, it was that kid.

—

Angus stared at his stone of farspeech when it cut out, terror twisting in his gut along side with relief. He couldn’t be more thankful that Avi had stepped out of the hanger to grab them both some dinner when the call had come. It would’ve been bad if someone had overheard that. He didn’t know what was going on or what to think right now, but he knew two things.

Taako, Merle and Magnus were safe for the moment.

They were with the Red Robe.

The second thing should be less comforting than it was. He should’ve felt terrified when that was the voice that had answered him. Instead though there had just been relief, and it was odd, he knew. Still, the Red Robe had never given him a reason to distrust him, not really. Not in the times he’d met him, and so he just… didn’t. They created the relics yes, but there seemed to be something more there. It didn’t seem like they’d done it to be evil.

He didn’t need to be the world’s greatest detective to tell that there was more to the story on that one.

How much more, he couldn’t say thanks to that damn static covering up his thoughts what felt like every other minute, but definitely more. For now though, there wasn’t much he could do but wait for them to get back. This stone wasn’t connected anymore, and the Red Robe had said that they were safe, and that he needed to wait just a bit longer. Hopefully not too much longer, because Angus was starting to get impatient.

He stayed in the hanger until about midnight, when Avi finally came over to where he was half asleep in the corner and suggested he go back to his room. Angus didn’t  _ want _ to, but Avi assured him he’d send someone to come get him as soon as they got back. After having no one come get him when they left, he was a bit hesitant on that, but Avi seemed to be telling the truth. Really, there was no reason why he wouldn’t be.

Reluctantly, Angus gathered up the Caleb Cleveland books and his wonderland notebook before heading back to his room.

Angus wanted to keep staying up so that he would be able to get to them soon as possible when they got back, but there was… something. Something he couldn’t quite place, a quiet energy  _ waiting _ that made him feel like he should get some rest.

Even still, he didn’t bother changing out of his clothes, and he kept his wand on its lanyard around his neck. His sleep was light and fitful, although it didn’t feel like those were any of the reasons why. He kept tossing and turning, never seeming to be able to stay out for longer than 40 minutes or so at a time.

It was probably because his sleep was so tenuous right now. He was only barely coming to consciousness when he heard the sound of pages being turned.

Rolling over in bed, Angus thought maybe someone had come to get him because the reclaimers were back.

Instead, he saw the Director standing in his room, the notebook full of all the information the Red Robe had given him in her hands. She was staring down at it, she hadn’t even noticed he was awake yet. Her hands were shaking, and he couldn't read the expression on her face.

“Madame Director,” he said, and when she tore her eyes away from the page and to him he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “Are Taako, Merle and Magnus back yet?” he asked. Maybe if he didn’t act suspicious, she wouldn’t look any further. Maybe she hadn’t seen anything too incriminating yet.

“No, I’m afraid they’re not,” she said, her voice carefully even.

“Oh,” he said, and he felt like she could hear his heart beating in his chest, it was so loud. “Can I have my notebook back now?” he asked.

She didn’t say anything for a moment, and he tried not to look too guilty. Her grip on the book was so tight, her short nails still managing to put indents on the covers.

“Yes, of course,” she said finally, looking like she had to force herself to close the book and hand it back over to him. He clutched it tight to his chest, hoping she wouldn’t say anything. She’d seen the note, he could tell she had, but maybe she would ignore that for now.

He doubted it, but that was the only option he could hope for.

“Angus,” she said after a moment, her grip on her staff tightening now that she didn’t have the book to hold onto.

“What do you know about the Red Robes?”

“Nothing,” he lied, and he didn’t want to be scared right now. He didn’t- the director wouldn’t hurt him. He didn’t know what her real goal was here, but he still wanted to- he knew she wasn’t evil. She’d taken him in and given him a home here, he trusted her.

“Angus, I need you to tell me the truth,” she insisted. Angus was usually very good at reading people, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking right now.

“I- I am. I don’t know- I mean, I know as much as I can about the Red Robes. Nothing more than that,” it wasn’t a lie. He tried to know more, and he couldn’t. The static wouldn’t let him, but he guessed it was still enough. Angus watched as she seemed to think his words over, and something seemed to click and her eyes went wide.

“Angus, I need to know. Do you trust me?” she asked.

He wanted to say yes, he tried to even, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. After a moment he shut it, not able to do anything but clutch the notebook tighter to his chest.

“That’s… what I thought,” the Director said, and she sounded so tired. Hurt.

“Madame Director, it’s not- I swear I don’t-” he tried, but he wasn’t able to finish speaking.

The Director’s grip tightened just the slightest bit more on her staff, and he heard her tap it against the ground.

The last thing he felt was the familiar sensation of the sleep spell taking affect, and then he was out cold.

—

Lucretia felt her heart pounding in her chest as she cast sleep on Angus, watching the boy slump over in his bed, passed out once again. He still had an arm holding the notebook to his chest, and she didn’t chance trying to take it away from him and waking him again, as much as she wanted to. Oh gods, how she wanted to. She hadn’t gotten a chance to see much, she’d just-

She’d been concerned for a while now. Angus was so smart, and it was clear as anything that he knew something was off. Of course he did, she wasn’t sure what else she should’ve expected. He nearly managed to find out about their operation when his mind was addled by the voidfish. As much as she tried to keep thing as unsuspecting as possible, it seemed like she hadn’t done a good enough job.

He found out something, and she didn’t know what, but when he showed up in her office that morning asking for the reclaimers and clutching the notebook like a lifeline, she could tell something was wrong. He was so smart, but he wasn’t a particularly hard child to read, he tended to keep most of his emotions on his sleeve.

There were little tells too, things he must’ve inherited from his parents. The way his ears would twitch or how he’d chew on his lip that showed how he wasn’t telling her everything, how something was so clearly on his mind.

She hadn’t asked for the notebook then though, she hadn’t wanted to put him on the spot in case she was right. They were so close to all of this being over, she didn’t want anything to blow up now, not when they were so near the end.

So, Lucretia figured she’d sneak into his bedroom and check while he was asleep. Maybe take the notebook if there was anything too incriminating in there. Just a day, she just needed to hold him off for  _ one more day. _

When she looked through it, she’d been skimming. Flipping through the pages as fast as she could so that she could get out of there and not have this hanging over her head anymore. It was obvious that he’d found an incredibly informative source, there were things in there about wonderland and the animus bell that she hadn’t even known about.

And then her heart stopped when her eye caught sight of a large note scrawled across one of the back pages, a few past the last one that had been filled with information.

_ Trust the Red Robe. _

She didn’t know  _ how _ to describe the warring emotions inside of her at that. A part of her was, well, it was happy. Relieved. She couldn’t stand the way she had to ostracize Barry and make him out to be the bad guy in all of this, but she had no other choice.

It hurt, telling Taako and Angus that he was evil when that couldn’t be further from the truth. When she thought about how close Taako and Barry had been, how much Barry had loved Angus from the very beginning. She was terrified, thinking of how it would affect him if he’d found out she’d turned his own son against him. He’d already lost Lup, she didn’t want to know if that would be the final nail in the coffin for him.

So seeing that, seeing Angus push through her lies and still be able to have faith in his father and her friend, it was a relief.

It was also terrifying, and set a cold dread in her stomach.

Because as much as she cared about Barry, as much as it drove her insane having to manipulate her family like this, she couldn’t stop now. She couldn’t let anything get in her way, not when she was so  _ close. _

And so when Angus woke up, she couldn’t- she didn’t know  _ what _ to do. But she couldn’t let him interfere, as much as she absolutely hated this. She figured, well, she knew he probably wouldn’t be able to forgive her after this anyway. She knew Taako wouldn’t be able to, and she doubted Barry could as well, despite how forgiving he tended to be.

She wasn’t going to do anything to him, of course not. She just needed him out of the way, only for a bit. Only for a  _ day. _ She’d apologize afterwards, and she wouldn’t beg for forgiveness, because she didn’t deserve it, but damn would she apologize.

Taking another deep, shaking breath, she carefully levitated Angus out of the bed. When it seemed certain that he wouldn’t wake up, she moved him out of his room. The bureau was mostly dead at this time of night, but she still she cast invisibility on him as well as she moved him through the halls. She took it slow, so that she was sure she didn’t end up knocking him into any walls or the sides of doorways, but eventually she managed to get then back towards her office.

She wouldn’t- she wasn’t going to lock him in the brig. This wasn’t so drastic as to require that yet. She couldn’t stand the idea of doing that to Angus, even for a day.

Instead, she turned off to a door just beside her office. It was rarely used, Davenport tended to stick by her side as much as possible. He’d usually end up falling asleep in her office due to the late nights she would take, and she’d bring him back here afterwards.

He could sleep in the office tonight, it wasn’t a big deal.

Heading into the room, she dismissed the invisibility on Angus before lowering him down onto the small bed that was in here. It was a rather plain room, filled with whatever little knickknacks Davenport had taken a liking to over the years. Making sure the sleep spell was still fully in effect on him, she left the room, locking the door behind her. Then, she quickly sealed it with magic and cast a silence spell to keep any noise from escaping the room for good measure.

It would be fine. She’d let him out and give him back to his father and uncle tomorrow. He was a smart boy, he’d understand when she explained why she had to do this later. Once she had everything fixed, she didn’t expect them to forgive her, but they had to  _ understand. _

Heading back into her office, Davenport was asleep like she expected him to be. Slumping down at her desk, she checked her stone of farspeech, hoping for any sort of sign or message that the boys were doing well in their mission. Any sign at all that they were even still  _ alive. _

There wasn’t anything.

Casting another silence spell around herself as not to wake Davenport, Lucretia allowed herself to break down into tears.

Soon.

One way or another, this would all be over soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooookay, so you know how i said semi-frequent updates? like, actually expect Very Frequent, like at least twice a week, possibly more. I forgot how fast i tend to write during nano, and also i have no impulse control so i gotta post shit Immediately. Sooo yeah, hope y'all are cool with that
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~


	29. Answers

When Angus woke up, he wasn’t sure where he was at first, or what had happened.

He’d stayed up late, hoping for the reclaimers to come back, but they never did, and he’d fallen asleep. And then…

And then he woke up, and the Director was in his room, looking through his notebook about Wonderland. The notebook that had the message about trusting the Red Robe inside of it. They’d talked some, she’d asked if he trusted her and he- he hadn’t said yes.

The last thing he remembered was her casting sleep on him, and right, it made sense now. The only issue left was where did he get taken to.

Climbing out of the bed he was in, it was small. Either made for a child or someone of the smaller races. As long as he was still on the moon he’d bet on the latter, since he was the only child around. The idea that he’d been taken off the base was one he hoped wasn’t true. He decided that the chances of her going through all the trouble of getting him off the base without anyone noticing were slim. Best to assume he was still on base until he found some evidence that suggested otherwise.

Looking around the room, it was a bit odd. There wasn’t anything on the walls or anything like that, and it was mostly clear except for little piles of odds and ends here and there. There was a drawer up against the wall, and when he looked through it, they were mainly filled with crisp suits and the like, all too small for any adult humans or elves or anything like that. It didn’t take him too long to figure out he must be in Davenport’s room. It was about as strange as the gnome.

Which, Angus wasn’t sure why she would put him in here. If she wanted- If she needed him out of the way, she could’ve locked him down in the brig with Robbie. He guessed Davenport couldn’t exactly tell anyone he was in his room, and he did seem very loyal to the Director. If she told him not to mention it to anyone, he doubted he would.

Angus wasn’t sure what time it was, but it didn’t much matter. He needed to get out of here. He needed to make sure Taako, Merle and Magnus had gotten back alright. He needed to know what they had talked to the Red Robe about. Why’d they decided to team up with him.

When he went to open the door, it wouldn’t budge. Which was pretty much exactly what he’d been expecting. She wouldn’t have knocked him out and taken him somewhere no one would think to look for him if she was going to let him walk right out the door. Trying to keep himself from panicking, he started knocking as loud as he could, hoping someone was walking by and would hear him. If was a slim chance, but there was nothing stopping him from standing here and making as much noise as possible until someone eventually heard.

His banging didn't end up making any sound at all however, and when he tried to shout it had the same affect.

Oh. Oh no.

Backing a good distance away from the door, he pulled out his stone of farspeech.

“Hello? Hello is anyone there? Taako? Can you hear me? Taako please!” he called into his stone, and there was some relief knowing he could still speak when he was away from the door. Walking back and forth through the room, he was able to pinpoint the radius of the silence spell. That was one good thing, that was one more thing he’d managed to figure out.

Any pride at that discovery was drowned out by the fact that there hadn’t been any sort of answer from his stone. Which made sense, from the sound of it their stones of farspeech had been destroyed the last time he spoke to them, so of course they couldn’t hear him.

He was on his own here. He was just… he just needed to figure this out. It wouldn’t be hard, he was the world’s greatest detective. Working alone was something he was  _ used to, _ it was all he’d known before he joined the bureau.

Running back over to the door, he tried to figure out some way to open it. There had to be something he could pick the lock with in all these weird piles of junk. Really, he’d always imagined what it would be like the first time he got captured by bad guys (the Director wasn’t a bad guy. She didn’t- there had to be something else going on here) he figured he would have a lot less to work with. Also that he would have to figure out how to get himself untied first, so he was thankful that he got to skip that step at least.

Searching through the piles of odds and ends, he managed to find a little ship statue. Making a mental note to apologize to Davenport later, he broke the little metal mast off to try to use as a lock pick. He had to snap off the sails as well, but after a moment he managed to get it so that it was small enough to fit in the lock.

It took some doing, he’d only seen Carey picking a lock a few times, but one of those had been when she was teaching Magnus, so he could kind of remember how she explained it. After nearly twenty minutes (too long, he didn’t know what was going on but if she’d locked him away like this there had to be some sort of time limit) he felt a click, and the doorknob twisted underneath his hand.

And the door still wouldn’t open.

Cursing, it was drowned out by the silence spell anyway as he desperately shook the handle and tried to knock the door open. He wasn’t a particularly strong little boy, but he still tried to slam into the door with his shoulder several times in an attempt to get it to budge. It wouldn’t work though, it wasn’t  _ working _ and he didn’t know what to  _ do.  _ He wasted all that time and of course she sealed the door with magic!

Slumping down against the door, Angus was having a very hard time not breaking into a panic now. He just- he needed to be out there. He needed to know what was going on. He hated feeling so  _ useless. _

Angus wasn’t sure how long he spent sitting there, trying to think of some way out of this. Also crying, he was a little ashamed of how much he ended up crying, but at least no one could see him right now. He couldn’t wait for someone to find him. He didn’t know how long that would take. He couldn’t even be sure if anyone had even noticed he was missing yet. He was sure Taako and them were too busy to notice, even once they got back up to the base. Avi had said he’d get him when they did, but if the Director made up some excuse for him not being available he probably wouldn’t question it.

Okay, the door was a lost cause, he had to write that one out as an option, or else he wouldn’t be able to get anywhere. So he needed some other way out. It didn’t look like this room had any windows. Angus had never been in Davenport’s room before, but he’d passed it enough times to know where he was in the base. It was right next to the Director’s office. The wall to his right should be the one separating him from that.

He doubted the office was the best place for him to go right now, all things considered. He kind of… he didn’t much want to see the Director right now. He still had faith that she at least believed she was doing the right thing, but all of this, it- it hurt.

He could think about that later though, right now he was trying to formulate a plan.

Pulling his lanyard, Angus let out a sigh of relief seeing that his wand was still there. It would’ve been bad if she’d decided to take that. It seemed like she didn’t bother taking anything off of his person, since his Wonderland notebook was lying on the bed where he’d been sleeping.

That notebook was useless now, so Angus left it where it was. Pacing around the room, he tried to think of what to do, how he could get out of here without being noticed. Damn it, if only Taako had taught him blink. They’d only just started on 3rd level spells though, Angus hadn’t gotten a chance to actually attempt to cast any yet. He didn’t have the spell slots.

So, he was going to have to go with something a little less elegant.

Taking a cue from the silence spell that was affecting the front half of the room, Angus cast one all along the back wall as well. He wasn’t sure where that wall led to, but he couldn’t risk going into the office right now.

Making a mental note to apologize even more to Davenport once all of this was over, Angus shot three magic missiles at the back wall. Just as he’d hoped, the sound of their impact was completely covered by the silence spell. It didn’t completely shoot through the wall like he was trying, but there was definitely progress.

Clearing the area around out, he shot several firebolts at the spot that had been weakened by the missiles. He didn’t want to use up all his spell slots after all. Thankfully, the wall only caught on fire a little bit, and Angus was able to put those out with prestidigitation fast enough before sending more firebolts at it.

Firebolt, prestidigitation to put out the fire, another firebolt, another prestidigitation. Eventually he had a charred hole in the back wall big enough for him to pull away a bit more of the dry wall and crawl through. It was difficult, at once point he had to stop and burn away more of the wall when he realized there was a support beam in the way. After all of that though he managed to tumble out the other side of the wall.

Looking around, he was in an empty hallway, one he’d never been in before and didn’t recognize. Before he could start panicking over how he was going to get out of this spot now, relief washed through him when he saw Taako and Merle were also here. Relief as well as confusion, because they were both kind of sprawled on the floor for some reason. His first instinct was to think they’d been knocked out and thrown in here as well, but no, they were awake. Merle was squirming around and muttering something about a broom for some reason. Angus blinked when he realized there was indeed a broom lying on the ground next to him, but it was perfectly fine and not destroyed like Merle was saying.

Taako was more curled up, shaking and looking terrified for some reason. Angus did a quick once over of the room, trying to see what could’ve set them off like this.

The only thing he saw however was a small alarm up on the wall he’d just came through. It seemed to be going off, but no sound was coming from it. It took Angus a second to realize it was in the radius of the silence spell he’d cast around that wall.

By the time he’d finished looking around, Taako seemed to have snapped out of whatever had left him shaken and freaked out like that. He was sitting up and prodding at Merle, telling him it was an illusion.

Then Taako seemed to notice him out of the corner of his eye, snapping his head towards him. It wasn’t hard to see the way his entire form seemed to slump in relief, and Angus wondered if he had noticed that he wasn’t around or not.

“Hey pumpkin. Holy shit, did you do that? Talk about making an entrance,” Taako said, casual as ever as he gestured to the smashed hole in the wall behind him.

Angus wanted to immediately begin explaining what had happened, to ask Taako what was going on. This was a lot and he needed to be serious and composed about it.

Instead of being able to do any of that however, Angus felt tears starting to well up in his eyes, and he scrambled forward to throw his arms around Taako in a hug. Taako didn’t complain about it or anything, he didn’t even sigh in annoyance like he usually did. Instead he just put a hand on Angus’s back to comfort him after a moment of hesitation. It was nice and Angus would’ve liked to stay like that for a lot longer, but he didn’t have time. Something big was going down and they needed to figure this out.

Pulling away, Angus wiped at his eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking.

“Please, tell me what’s going on. I need to know what you know,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“God Angus, where the fuck do I even start?”

—

Taako wouldn’t say the plan had gone great once they got up to the moon base, but it was going. Sort of? Shit seemed to kinda be both better and worse than he expected. They didn’t question Magnequin too much, and people believed the whole ‘he’s dead’ lie. They also found a spare Magnus body in the Fantasy Costco, and yeah, Taako wasn’t going to think about that one too hard. Some things were better left not knowing the whys for, and that was definitely one of them.

The one thing was that they didn’t know how much of Magnus’s memory would be gone when he went back into it. It was a risk the dude was willing to take though, and in the end that was his choice. Taako just made sure to leave him a note and the key to the flaming raging poisoning sword of doom before they left.

Taako had been hoping Angus would be in the relic destruction room when they got there, since they hadn’t seen the kid yet. He wasn’t though, and that was… weird. He wanted to ask where he was, because the fact that they hadn’t run into him yet was odd. He knew Angus knew they were alive. He expected the kid to be one of the first people in the hanger waiting for them.

He wasn’t though, and that left an uneasy feeling in the pit of Taako’s stomach. He'd heard Avi tell a guard to go let Angus know they were back, so he should be around. Taako couldn’t press it right now though, they had to get back to the office and figure out the weird thing the Red Robe wanted them to find.

And hey, Angus was a smart kid, and he’d been in contact with the Red Robe. There was a chance he was already back there and was waiting for them to catch the fuck up already.

Even though Taako had thought that, he hadn’t expected to actually see Angus sitting on the floor underneath a huge hole in the wall when he came to from his dumb illusion trap induced panic. He tried to play it off as a casual thing, but the next thing he knew Angus was falling into his lap crying.

Taako didn’t know what the fuck had happened while he was gone, but he really wasn’t liking what he was seeing. Angus cried easy yeah, he was an emotional kid, but he knew they were all alive. Even if he’d heard the lie about Magnus, Taako figured he’d be smart enough to figure out it was a lie. Whatever had set off his crying spell though didn’t last long. After a few moments he pulled back and asked Taako to explain what was going on.

Taako had been kind of hoping Angus could do that for him, but it seemed like some shit had gone down with the kid while he was gone.

“Uh, okay, explaining, let’s fucking see. We’re kinda trying to figure out what shady shit is going down in the bureau I guess. Your friend Barold’s got some weird magic coin we’ve been listening to, shit’s whack,” he said. Angus frowned, still wiping at his eyes some and trying to get himself back under control.

“Barold?” he asked, and before Taako could answer he felt movement in his bag.

“It’s uh, it’s just Barry. Hey can I come out now I’m starting to feel pretty claustrophobic in here,” Barry said, starting to crawl out anyway. "I know I'm not supposed to be here but uh, I'm just gonna, yeah..."

“Yeah, this is Barry he lives in my bag,” Taako joked, and it did nothing to alleviate the confusion on Angus’s face. “He’s the Red Robe,” he added, and that got the kid’s attention.

“Oh! Really? It’s nice to see you again sir,” he said, and Barry kicked Taako’s bag off of his foot before looking over at Angus.

“Nice to um, meet you… again? Uh, who’s kid is this?” Barry asked. Angus looked confused, which was understandable considering the fact that he’d met the Red Robe a bunch of times.

“Taako’s apparently. Didn’t know you had such a soft spot for the little gremlin,” Merle cut in, and Taako rolled his eyes at that. Sure, he still kind of had the kid in his lap from the whole crying session, but he didn’t ask for anyone’s opinions on that.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Excuse me for being thankful someone with a working brain is here now and can help figure this shit out,” he said. Yeah, he guessed he cared about the kid, but like fuck did Merle need to know about that.

“Right, um, speaking of figuring things out. Can you explain how he’s the Red Robe?” Angus asked.

“Yeah, that thing. I don’t know how it works, but becoming a flesh person messed with his memories somehow. Honestly, we don’t know a lot about what’s going on Ango, was kinda hoping you could help fill in some blanks on that. Like, for starters, why did you blast your way through a fucking wall?” Taako asked, and Angus’s shoulders slumped at that.

“Right, that,” he said seeming a bit hesitant to explain. “The director found out I was looking um, looking into the Red Robes, and she locked me in there.”

“She  _ what?” _ Taako snapped, only remembering to be quiet when Merle shushed him and pointed to the door that lead back to the office. Angus flinched a bit as well, like he hadn’t expected Taako to react like that.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it. I mean, she meant it. She cast sleep on me and then sealed the door with magic and cast silence so no one could hear me yelling…” Angus continued, trailing off when Taako guessed his expression was looking less than pleased. “But I’m sure she had a good reason.”

Taking a deep breath, Taako forced himself to calm down and  _ not _ go storming back into the room where everyone else was to demand to know why the fuck she decided to do that. They still had shit they needed to get to after all, it’d be dumb as fuck of him to blow their cover over something Angus already managed to handle on his own. “What the fuck did she lock you up for?” he asked, because he could still be confused and pissed about that.

“I told you, she found out I knew about the Red Robes,” Angus told him, and Taako huffed, climbing to his feet. He helped Angus up afterwards, and the kid  _ seemed _ fine. He had a couple scratches here and there from crawling through the wall it looked like, but nothing big.

“Okay, but some elaboration on that would be nice. How’d she find out? What the fuck do you even  _ know? _ I’d ask Barold but like fuck can he tell us anything useful anymore,” Taako pressed. Angus frowned, looking over at Barry who was standing around, shuffling his feet and looking awkward as fuck. Which Taako guessed was fair. He didn’t have any idea who they all were or what the fuck they were doing.

“You really don’t remember me sir?” he asked, and Barry shrugged.

“Sorry bud, I don’t- there are a lot of holes in the ol’ Barry Bluejeans story,” he said. Angus looked hesitant but nodded after a moment, like he just figured something out.

“Oh, I get it. When you’re a lich you can remember because you’re dead, but it’s all blocked when you’re alive like this,” he said.

“Huh, that tracks, yeah. See, I knew there was a reason we kept you around,” Taako joked, although Barold for his part looked even more confused.

“When I’m a what?” he asked, but Taako waved him off.

“We can explain that later. Maybe, if it’s physically possible for us to, I don’t know how this shit works anymore,” he said. Angus took a deep breath, seeming to think something over before speaking. 

“I wish I knew more about what’s going on, I want- I want to trust the Director. She changed my life, she gave me a home here, and I don’t think she’s evil. I think, whatever she’s doing, she’s doing it for the right reasons, but I can’t… something isn’t right. She’s hiding something, she didn’t even give me a chance to explain myself. I know there’s more being kept from us than we know, and I don’t know how but it involves  _ me, _ so I just… I need to see this through Taako,” Angus said, and Taako wished he could do more here. It was obvious how much this was tearing the kid up, having to go against the bureau.

“Well, we think the answers are all behind this door, but I gotta warn you like, okay, maybe this warning isn’t necessary. You did blast a fucking hole in the wall, so it’d be kinda hard to claim your innocence in all this, but we don’t know what we’re doing. It might be bad,” Taako didn’t trust anyone right now, so maybe they were on the wrong side in this. Maybe the Director was being honest and had no ulterior motives and them breaking into here was fucked up.

He was having a harder time believing that after she went and fucking locked Angus away. How long was she even planning on keeping him in there? Was she planning on telling anyone about that or was he just gonna be swept under the run like Pringles?

Fuck, he was getting sidetracked.

“Point is, if you come with us, you might be a bad guy,” he had to give the kid an out. He wasn’t dragging him into anything he didn’t want to be a part of.

Angus just smiled at him though, eyes still slightly red and puffy from crying earlier as he spoke.

“The ones looking for the truth, well, they’re never the bad guys. I know that from my Caleb Cleveland novels,” he said. It was adorable, and a part of Taako was inexplicably proud of this damn kid, but it was dampened somewhat by the slight confusion he felt.

“From what?” he asked, and for some reason Merle sucked in a breath at that.

“Aw, jeeze,” he muttered, but Taako was ignoring him, already moving towards the door.

“Um, my Caleb Cleveland books? I don’t- is this a goof? Taako, I appreciate your goofs but now doesn’t um, doesn’t seem like the right time,” Angus said, and Taako shrugged, looking over the door and the keypad.

“Never heard of them Pumpkin. Let’s get through here,” he said, and he couldn’t really focus on whatever it was Angus was talking about right now. He didn’t want to ignore him right now, but it was- they had more important things to do right now. He could tell him about, what was it, a book? Something like that, later.

“Taako?” Angus asked, sounding confused and concerned, but Taako was already pulling out the hole thrower to get through the door.

“Eh, leave it be kid. We’ll explain later. Wonderland took some shit from us, your nerd books were one of em,” Merle said. Taako didn’t know what he was talking about, he didn't remember Wonderland taking books, but it wasn’t important.

“Oh, okay,” Angus said, sounding dejected in a way that Taako wasn’t cool with in the slightest. What the fuck was Merle talking to him about? He quickly blasted a nice clean hole in the door for them to get through before turning back to the kid.

“Everything alright Pumpkin?” he asked, and Angus nodded.

“Yeah, let’s- let’s crack this thing wide open,” he said, and Taako snickered some before nodding and heading into the back room.

Once they were in, it was a pretty simple room, with a big desk in the corner and a whole bunch of journals stacked up on them. There was some weird religious symbol that Merle started checking out.

There was also a tank, and they couldn’t really see inside of it, but it was fucking weird, but in a very familiar way. Before any of them could do much of anything Barry’s coin started going off again.

They couldn’t understand all of it, but Taako could understand enough to figure out what they needed to do here. Pulling out a flask, Taako dipped it into the tank, taking a swing of the liquid before passing it off to Merle and then Angus. Angus practically tore it out of his hands, and it definitely seemed like the kid figured out what was going on here.

Of course he had though, if it wasn’t for this new voidfish Taako was sure he’d have figured everything out a lot time ago. Angus was a genius, what else would he expect from his sister’s kid.

With that thought, Taako felt like his head was about to explode, and he collapsed to his knees.

—

Angus tried not to be too upset about Taako not remembering his books. He knew that Wonderland took things away that were important to people. He tried to tell himself that he should be happy that they actually meant enough to Taako to warrant as a sacrifice to begin with.

Thankfully, he didn’t have very long to think about that, because then they were in the room and looking around. Angus saw a blurry tank he couldn’t quite focus on, and his mind was full of static as he tried to figure out what it was.

This was it. This was  _ it. _ He couldn’t even think of what  _ it  _ was, exactly, but when Taako handed him the flask he downed probably more than he needed before handing it off to his dad.

His-

Oh.

He watched as Mr. Barry drank from the flask, staggering a bit before getting his bearings somewhat back. Angus could think now, could clearly remember everything he’d said to him that had been blocked by the static.

He knew there was a lot to focus on, a lot he’d figured out and even more he  _ could _ figure out now that he wasn’t blocked anymore. But his mind was left stunned on that one fact. What the Red Robe had straight up told him the second time they met.

This was his dad.

Taako collapsed to the ground beside him, and Angus spun around to turn towards his… his…

Family. He didn’t know the specifics, but Taako was family.

He felt like an idiot, not figuring this out until now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they _know._ You know, when i started this fic, i never thought I'd actually manage to get to this point, it seemed so far away and unattainable, but we're here! We've reached story and song, and I'm probably going to be able to keep on updating every two days until this fic is complete. Hell, I'll even make a guess as to how many chapters this fic'll have when it's done finally. thirty...five? Probably right around thirty five, give or take a margin error of two-ish. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~


	30. Start Of The End

Taako couldn’t focus on what was going on around him. It was so fucking much, too much. He couldn’t breathe without his mind trying to rip itself apart from the flood of information that was all clamoring for his attention at once. After a moment he could hear Barry talking (Barry, his best friend, his brother in law, once they’d gotten separated from everyone else for over a month and they made up an entire language based off of yelling ‘aaaah’ in different inflections) and then Lucretia was explaining everything.

It helped, but it was also the worst, because everything he remembered made him feel more and more sick. He forgot. How the fuck could he  _ forget? _

“Ten…”

He’d barely managed to stand back up, and he slowly raised the umbrastaff (Lup’s umbrastaff. Oh  _ gods, _ that had been Lup. She was  _ gone.  _ The thought nearly caused him to collapse again) at her. “Nine.”

The others were talking, and Taako wasn’t even sure when Magnus had shown up. He was beside him though, demanding Lucretia explain herself. He didn’t think Magnus would actually go through with anything, he’d always been so forgiving and shit. He and Lucretia had always been so  _ close. _ “Eight.”

“Listen-”

He was done listening to people. His blood was fucking  _ boiling.  _ He was staring at Lucretia, blocked off by her goddamn barrier, but he couldn’t even see her, not really. He couldn’t tell if that was from the rage, or from unshed tears. Unshed? He might've been crying, he didn’t care at this point. What the fuck did anything matter at this point?

“Seven.”

“Please stop- okay.”

Merle started trying to get between them, and Taako wasn’t even surprised by that. He’d always been the mediator and shit, but usually it wasn’t between the seven of them. Even when it was, it had never been like this. He’d never- he never expected anything like this. He fucking trusted them. He  _ cared about them _ and this is what happened.

“Five.”

“The chance to explain yourself was… mmm, about a dozen memories ago.”

“And honestly, seven seconds ago, I’m doing this cool countdown thing.  _ You fucking took everything from me,”  _ he shouted, and without thinking he sent a spell blasting towards her. He wasn’t even sure which one, fireball or something. Flames slammed against the barrier before flickering out harmlessly, Lucretia not even seeming to have flinched from it all. Like she expected this kind of reaction, which just pissed him off all the more.

He was already raising his wand up to send another one at her, but before he could there was a hand grabbing his arm.

“Taako! Taako, stop. I know why you’re so pissed but we can’t- don't do this,” Barry insisted, and Taako was practically growling as he lowered his wand. He didn't want to stop. Nothing fucking  _ mattered _ anymore so why would he care? His entire body was still shaking and he’d never- they’d been through shit, they’d been though so much fucking shit, but he’d never felt like this before. 

“I know that things went wrong. I know I shouldn’t have kept you all in the dark for as long as I did. I  _ swear, _ I had no idea how arduous a task this was gonna be. I know I have a lot to atone for, but please, just- I’m begging you. Let me finish this and then we can talk about it,” Lucretia said, not seeming bothered in the slightest that Taako had tried to roast her entire ass. 

Taako wasn’t sure how to even describe how he was feeling. Pissed, enraged beyond belief. Fucking  _ devastated. _ He couldn’t even bring himself to look down at Angus (his nephew. Of course, of fucking  _ course _ he was his nephew. How the fuck could he be such an idiot to not have seen that before?).

“Why?” he asked, spitting out the word, and he knew the world was ending, but he didn’t fucking  _ care _ about that anymore. He’d lived through a hundred other apocalypses, that shit couldn’t phase him anymore. Maybe it wasn’t the right time to be hashing this shit out, but he didn’t know if there would be a time after this, and he fucking needed an answer.

“Why the fuck did you take away Angus?” he asked. There was a lot of things he wanted to ask. Why she had erased Lup, why'd she'd done any of this at all, but that one was at the forefront. As much as he hated it, he could explain the other things. Those made sense, in a sort of way. But Angus was  _ his _ responsibility. Everyone fucking knew that, after his parents it was  _ Taako _ who was supposed to take care of him.

Lucretia’s shoulders slumped at his question, and she looked so tired. The part of Taako that looked at her and saw the woman he came to love like a sister for over 100 years wanted to be concerned, but he wasn’t listening to that part anymore. He’d fucking cared about her, and she did  _ this _ to him.

“I didn’t- I’m sorry. I wanted to keep him with you, but Barry was  _ gone,  _ and you weren’t- you couldn’t raise a child in your condition,” she said.

“The fucking condition  _ you  _ left me in!” he snapped. He raised up the umbrastaff to send another spell at her, because fuck this. Once again she didn't even flinch at his reaction, and before anything could go off Taako let the spell fizzle out and his arm fall back down. It wasn't- it didn't matter anymore. They were all going to die, and it didn't matter what Lucretia had done to him. He'd still fucked up.

He’d promised Lup. He told her if anything ever happened to her and Barry, he’d be there for her kid. Then, worst case scenario happened, they were both  _ gone, _ and he just- he just left him. Forgot Lup and forgot he had any goddamn family at all.

Angus had been  _ alone. _ He thought his family had abandoned him for something as inconsequential as being a half-elf. Left with some old man who couldn’t even remember his own goddamn name. Who let Angus ride alone, on a train, after a known serial killer.

He’d been forced to grow up too fast, by himself, and that was the one thing all of them had never wanted for him.

“Taako?”

He flinched at the voice, and when he forced himself to look down Angus looked so confused. And scared. And on the verge of tears and fuck that bullshit. Without thinking twice he bent down, wrapping Angus up in his arms.

“Whatever, do what you want,” he muttered, not bothering to look up at the rest of them. Barry probably wanted to see his kid. He should let him, the guy never got a chance to properly meet him after all. He'd been stuck on the run, made out as the villain while trying to stop Lucretia's plans and fix all this. Letting him see Angus would require letting go of his nephew though, and like fuck was Taako going to do that right now.

This was it. This was all he fucking had left of Lup, he wasn’t going to lose him again.

He wasn’t paying too much attention as Merle asked her what she was finishing, and Lucretia started explaining her barrier plan again. It wasn’t going to work, but it wasn’t- they didn’t have any other option now.

“Lucretia, you can’t do this! We told you why the barrier’s not gonna work. It’s going to sever every bond this world’s ever had,” Barry said, echoing Taako’s own thoughts. “Please, I-I know why you did what you did. At least, most of it…” he trailed off, and when Taako glanced up he could see him looking back towards him and Angus again. “But you just- you can’t do this."

“You know, honestly, do whatever you want. I don’t care anymore,” Taako said, still holding onto his nephew like his life depended on it. He was surprised Angus wasn’t asking more questions, but the kid was smart enough to figure out what was going on without that. Taako wondered how fucking brilliant he would’ve been if he’d gotten the chance to be raised by Lup and Barry. They would’ve been such great parents.

Taako squeezed Angus a little tighter, trying to keep himself under control as the fucking waves of grief kept smashing into him over and fucking over again. Angus was shaking against him, but he wasn't crying. Taako wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Lucretia kept trying to defend herself, and then Magnus was arguing with her. Taako barely looked up when he headed over to where he was with Angus, crouching down so that he was on their level.

“Taako, listen. I know this is tough, but you found her. Maybe not in the way you expected to, but when you weren’t looking you found her,  _ and _ you found Angus. You've been looking out for and caring for him all this time. You’re all, you’re still a family, that’s the connection you have. She’s still helping the both of you, and she wouldn’t want us to give up,” he said, and the worst part was, Taako knew he was right. He knew Lup would fucking never give up, but Lup wasn’t  _ here. _

She wasn't here, and the hunger was, so what the fuck were they even supposed to do at this point?

Reluctantly, he released Angus so that he could stand back up and speak properly. He made sure to keep a hand on his shoulder though with the hand that wasn’t wrapped tight around the umbrastaff. They didn’t have a lot of time left, but he wasn’t fucking letting go again.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, and I’m on board for whatever the plan is, but understand this. I have nothing, and I don’t give a shit. The world is ending and  _ I. Don’t. Care,” _ he said. Angus was staring up at him, and he looked hurt. Taako squeezed his shoulder tighter, because it wasn’t- None of this was his fault.

Lucretia started trying to justify herself again, but Taako wasn’t listening. He just- no. He wasn’t going to listen to a single word she said ever again. He doubted it would even be hard, they had like, an hour left to live at most.

He  _ did _ listen when Davenport started asking where the ship was and saying that they needed to go though. A cold dread ran down his back and his head shot over to his captain. 

“We can’t,” he blurted out. "We- we fucking can't. I'm not leaving." He could feel Angus still shaking beside him, obviously terrified by all of this. Of course he was, kid was fucking like, eleven years old. He was just a fucking  _ kid. _

He wasn’t supposed to go through this. They never fucking wanted him to ever have to go through anything like this.

“Yeah, I’m- I’m with Taako. I know- I want Lup back, believe me, I fucking want Lup back. And maybe it’s selfish of me, but I can’t leave,” Barry said, sharing a glance with Taako who found himself nodding.

If they died here, this would just be the end of it. There wouldn’t be anyone left to combat the Hunger, it would win and existence would lose. But Taako wasn’t going to leave, so that was it.

“Right, sorry Cap’n but I’m with the boys on this one too. Barold’s not the only one who’s got kids here, and I’m too old for all this running again,” Merle said. Right, Taako had nearly forgotten about that. It was somewhat of a relief, knowing their was someone else on their side in this.

“Taako, you’re not- you’re not going to leave us to this, are you?” Angus asked, sounding terrified of the possibility. Taako shook his head, only somewhat able to keep himself from reaching down and pulling the kid into another hug.

“Of course not Ango. Never- never gonna leave you again,” he said, his throat feeling all choked up as he spoke.

He wasn’t paying much attention to his surroundings, considering everything that was fucking going on in his head right at that moment. So he almost didn’t notice the ceiling collapsing in on them underneath the weight of a huge, black tendril of hunger.

Once that happened, it was pretty much autopilot. At least he knew how to fight these things. At the very least, they could hold their own against the damn hunger for a while, even if it was a losing battle without some sort of major plan. They had 100 years to come up with something, and the best they had was the relics. There wasn’t much of a chance for any last minute miracles now.

Taako was ready to light a motherfucker up when some punkass hand sent his nephew flying across the room. Before he could though the damn rhino went and slammed into him, knocking the umbrastaff from his grip.

“Taako, is this okay?” Angus called, already up again and holding the umbrastaff in his hands. It was a weird sort of comforting, there was something that felt both right and horribly wrong seeing Angus holding Lup’s old wand. It was a bit too big for him to wield properly, but something about it still seemed right.

“Fucking, yeah, go for it,” he said, still trying to pick himself back up from where the rhino had thrown him. Fucking, it felt like the thing had cracked some of his barely healed ribs from Wonderland again.

Those thoughts were out of his head in an instant though when he watched Angus fucking  _ roast _ the rhino with a fireball. Angus was a powerful kid, he’d always taken to magic so easily, and Taako could understand why now. His parents were two goddamn liches, of course magic came as easy to him as breathing.

But this, this was still beyond anything he knew Angus could cast. It was probably beyond was  _ Taako  _ could cast, before he got all his memories back. It was huge, and powerful, and so fucking familiar.

“I-I didn’t cast that, I’m not powerful enough to cast that,” Angus said, his voice shaking as he stared down at the umbrastaff in his hands.

“I know.”

“No, no you don’t understand. I’m not the one who cast that spell!” Angus continued to insist. He stole one more glance down at the umbrastaff, and something seemed to click in his head. He stared at Taako for a moment, and Taako’s breath caught in his throat as realization dawned on him. Wordlessly Angus tossed the umbrastaff back to Taako who caught it with ease.

Without a second though, he took the wand and snapped it in half over his knee.

The resulting explosion sent him flying backwards and into the wall. He watched as great waves of fire burned away the rest of the fucks in this room, as well as the pillar leading up into the hunger. Taako felt like he couldn’t even think as he looked up at the lich form of his sister. It wasn’t because of despair this time though, but a near overwhelming joy and relief.

There were tears in his eyes as Lup turned to him, silent for just a moment before shouting.

_ “You threw my kid off a train?!” _

—

Angus didn’t know what was going on, but he was trying his damnedest to figure out what he could. It was all so much information so fast, combined with all the things he’d been trying to think of for  _ weeks _ suddenly being clear to him, it was overwhelming. The only thing Angus could do was stand there and  _ think _ while the world seemed to be ending around him.

It was like he was paralyzed as his brain used all of its power to process as much as possible as fast as it could.

Starters, Mr. Barry was his dad, that he knew for certain. It explained so much about the way the Red Robe had acted around him. It still didn’t explain how that had even happened, or why he had left, but it was a start.

Second thing, Taako had lost someone. Taako had someone who was so important to him, and who was important to Mr. Barry (should he be calling him that? It was- it was weird to think of him as ‘dad’ but Mr. Barry was probably too formal. He didn’t- god, he didn’t even know where to begin with all that). Someone named Lup.

She was the Red Robe in Wave Echo Cave. She was the previous owner of the umbrastaff. Both the source and the answer of every mystery he’d been struggling to solve, and when he tossed the umbrastaff back over to Taako and he snapped his over his leg, she was right there in front of them.

And she was, apparently on top of all of that, his mom.

Angus stood and stared as she lowered down, all carefully contained arcane power. As he watched her goofing off with Taako about knowing she’d been in there the whole time, it was hard to comprehend the fact that someone who was this casual had the insane amount of power they’d just saw.

It was hard to make out features in this almost fiery lich form, but despite that he could still make out the similarities between her and Taako. Siblings, they were so obviously siblings. Which made Taako his uncle, and yeah that- that made sense. That felt right.

Mr. Barry (dad? He still didn’t- he still wasn’t sure about that) was talking about wanting to blow himself up so he could be a lich again, and she stopped him. Then they were all looking at him, and Angus wasn’t typically shy. He never had much of a problem being the center of attention, he quite enjoyed it a lot of the time actually.

But right now he wanted to hide. This was so much, he’d never  _ intended _ to meet his parents. Now they were here in front of him and it felt like it was supposed to be this huge grand moment. It was supposed to be some teary reunion, and he was probably supposed to cry and hug them or  _ something. _ The world was ending and they were looking at him like him being there made it all worth it, and Angus suddenly felt like anything he said would end up being a huge disappointment.

“Hey Angus, I’m sorry for scaring you and destroying your cookies, I’m sure they were great,” the lich said, floating over to him more. There was such raw emotions of love and fondness in her voice, it left Angus speechless for a moment.

“It’s quite alright. It’s very nice to finally meet you Miss Lup,” he said after a moment, flinching almost immediately afterwards. That was exactly what he meant by being a disappointment. He didn’t even know a lich could look stricken like that. She recovered quick enough afterwards, and it was hard to tell if what little expression he could see in this form was forced or not.

“Yeah, it- it’s real fucking nice to meet you too. Sorry it wasn’t sooner,” Lup said, and even if he couldn’t tell from her expression, he could certainly tell from her voice.

“It’s okay, you were stuck in an umbrella, and Mr. Barry,” Damn it. Dad, he should be calling them mom and dad, what was  _ wrong _ with him? “was a lich and couldn’t explain the situation to me anyway.”

There was an awkward moment where no one really seemed sure of what to say. Angus felt a hair away from casting invisibility on himself to get out of the situation before Magnus spoke up to remind everyone that the world was still ending. Which, yeah, Angus still didn’t have the full story there, but it also seemed like now wasn’t the right to to ask for an explanation.

So he just tried to figure out what he could as they tried to convince Madame Director once more to stop whatever it was she was trying to do. It didn’t seem to be working though, and then there was a flash and she was gone.

It was at that point that Davenport started giving out orders, which was still a strange thing to see. Like, really strange. He was apparently a captain? And the reason he could only say his name was because of the voidfish? That was- that was a lot.

God, right now Angus’s biggest driving force to survive all of this was getting some freaking answers about what in the world was going on out of everyone afterwards. Even still, he jolted to attention and nodded when Davenport told him to help him sleuth out the Director so they could try to convince her to stop.

“Hey now-” Taako cut it, stopping himself short like he wasn’t sure what he was even protesting.

“Taako, I know you’re worried but I promise I won’t let anything happen to him,” Davenport said, and it sounded like he meant it. There was a moment where Taako seemed to hesitate, before backing down and nodding.

“Alright,” he said, and it was a little strange, hearing Taako actually sound like he trusted these people. “Hey pumpkin, you watch yourself, alright? We’re- we’re gonna figure this out. We’re gonna put a fucking end to it this time,” Taako said, turning towards him. It was so different from how hopeless and defeated he'd seemed just moments before. Instead of answering, Angus ran over and wrapped his arms around his waist in a hug. This time, Taako immediately hugged him back.

He knew they didn’t have a lot of time though, so after a moment he forced himself to pull away. “I promise I won’t let you down,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“I know you won’t Ango,” he said, ruffling his hair. With that, Angus started looking through the office they were currently in. Tearing apart the dresser to try to find some clues as to where the Director might have hidden herself. He was decidedly not thinking about how he’d ran up to hug Taako, but not the people that were his actual parents. He still kept an ear listening in as Davenport explained to Taako, Merle and Magnus what they might need to do to get the voidfishes’ powers to stop.

He glanced up every so often when Mr. Barry  _ (damn _ it. Mr. Dad? Nope, no that was somehow worse) got out a bunch of cool magic items for everyone.

He stopped searching entirely when the forms of four giant, hulking figures appeared on the horizons, slowly making their way towards them. The tension was only broken somewhat when Lup started to explain she had a plan before jumping off the side of the moon.

“Oh. That’s why you said I’m like my mom,” he blurted out. Barry seemed confused for a moment before it clicked in his head and he laughed. Somehow it managed to ease some of the fear inside of him. Not a lot, but it was something. He had liked the Red Robe, even when he had absolutely no reason to trust him, there was something about him that felt right hanging out with him. 

“Yeah, this is a real bad first example to set as parents, isn’t it? Uh, I guess don’t jump off the moon unless it’s an emergency,” he said, before jumping off as well. This situation was still beyond bizarre for Angus, but he couldn’t help but laugh some at that. Then Taako said goodbye to Magnus and Merle before leaving, and the two started down to the voidfish’s chambers. Carey, Killian and Noelle went to go secure the moon base as much as they could, and Angus followed after Davenport to search for the Director.

They didn’t seem to be having much luck though, in large part due to the whole base being in such disarray. They were looking everywhere, every little place Angus could think a secret room or passage might be. They actually did manage to find a couple secret rooms too, but nothing with the Director in it.

After a bit, the silent searching was starting to get a bit too awkward for Angus to bear. Things were already awkward enough seeing Davenport so- so competent, after how he’d been the entire time Angus had known him. Combined with everything he’d learned about his parents, and just everything, it was getting too much for Angus.

“I broke one of your model ships,” he said without any warning, Davenport frowning and turning towards him.

“What?” he asked, and it was still weird hearing his voice saying anything besides his name.

“The director locked me in your room, and I broke one of your model ships trying to use it as a lock pick,” he said, feeling kind of stupid afterwards. It was a pretty inconsequential thing to bring up just then. “Also, I blasted a hole in your wall so I could get out, so um, sorry about that too,” he said. Davenport stared at him for a moment before chuckling and starting to walk forward again.

“It’s fine. It w-wouldn’t- Your parents blasted holes in enough walls over the years. I wouldn’t expect much- much less from their kid,” he said, and Angus nodded slowly.

“So, Mr. Barry and Ms. Lup, they’re really my parents?” he asked, and he knew it was true but he needed to make sure. It seemed- it still didn’t seem real, not in the slightest.

Taako being his uncle felt real, but Taako had become so much like family over the past year, it felt like a smaller leap. An uncle or a teasing older brother or cousin or something was how Taako had always felt to him. Having it confirmed was more exciting than anything.

Parents were supposed to be important though, and Angus had spent so long convincing himself he didn’t need them. That them not being there wasn’t a big deal. It was true too, Angus had been happy where he was in life. 

He’d told Taako about how he never felt he needed parents, and he’d been telling the truth. Lup, his  _ mom _ had been right there, in the umbrastaff. What if she’d heard him saying all of that?

What if they hated him for not realizing that they cared about them? What if they hated him for not searching for them more? He was the world’s greatest detective, and he wrote them both off without any more than a cursory glance. He should have known something wasn’t right, that there was more to the story than what he’d first seen.

“Yeah, they’re definitely your- your parents, Angus,” Davenport said, knocking him out of his quickly spiraling panic. He guessed it was obvious that he wasn’t in the best place right now. Davenport had an awkward look on his face like he wasn’t sure if he should say something or try to keep looking for the Director.

“Listen, Angus,” he said after a moment, and he guessed the ‘say something’ option won out. “I wasn’t really- the last ten years weren’t the best for me. So I don’t know what you might’ve uh- might’ve gone through, before you ended up at the bureau. But Lup and Barry and Taako all love you. We all care- care about you. And we’re sorry for not being there,” he said. Angus honestly wasn’t sure if that helped his panic or made it worse.

It was obvious they loved him, his worry was from the fact that he hadn’t let himself do the same.

“Davenport, what- what happened?” he asked. He didn’t think they were going to be able to find the Director. He didn’t know if they were going to survive this. He needed to know what had led to all of this, he  _ needed _ to.

Davenport opened his mouth to answer, but before he could a blue light was suddenly surrounding them, and he shut his mouth. Angus blinked, and then there was a green light, and he could hear Johann’s music playing all around them.

And then, Angus knew  _ exactly _ what had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, there wasn't an _immediate_ teary heartfelt reunion between parents and child, so I do apologize for that. Angus is just a little anxious over the whole situation is all. God, I can't believe how fast this is going though, and i just wanna thank everyone who's been all supportive of me thus far. We've only got a few more left to go, so I hope it's all worth it. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~


	31. Fighting So It's Not A Goodbye

Things started happening fast after Lup came back, and Taako could barely focus on any of them because  _ Lup was back. _ Taako wasn’t sure how the fuck to even process the hurricane of emotions that had been remembering Lup, realizing she was  _ gone, _ realizing that he’d found her and she was  _ truly gone, _ and then getting her back in a blaze of glory in what amounted to less than twenty minutes.

He’d felt broken before. He hadn’t known what it was when he’d been under the influence of the voidfish, but once it came back he knew what it was in such clarity that it was almost overwhelming. He wanted to fight, some part of him desperately wanted to survive this. He couldn’t imagine how though, because Lup was gone, and she had always been the one pushing them. He’d seen how badly he’d fallen apart without her, what fucking hope did they have to defeat the hunger if she was gone?

But then she came back, and it was hard to describe the way the near overwhelming sense of defeat had hardened into a determination to survive again.

And it wasn’t even just Lup. He had his sister back, and he was no longer forced to think his best friend was an enemy, and fucking-  _ Angus. _

Angus was his nephew, that information was still sinking in, even though it should’ve been something he’d known this whole time. (He should’ve been there for him he promised Lup how could he had been such an idiot how could he let this  _ happen?) _ Still, watching Angus and seeing him with Barry and Lup felt fucking right. Even if it stabbed him in the chest thinking about how that’s how it always should’ve been.

It somehow managed to hurt even worse when he heard him calling them fucking ‘Ms. Lup’ and ‘Mr. Barry.' He couldn’t even be surprised by that either, he knew that was how Angus was. It took forever for Taako to get him to stop calling him ‘sir’ and he’d been with the kid for months at that point. But it was still so fucking  _ wrong. _

If he’d been able to… if she’d just let him remember Lup, he could’ve taken care of him. He couldn’t pretend he’d be much more functional, or a good parent or even a good fucking person, but he would’ve put his all into it. He could’ve raised him and told him how great his parents were and how much they cared about him so he wouldn’t be thinking of them as a couple of fucking strangers right now.

That wasn’t what happened though, and as much as Taako was still furious over what had actually gone down, he couldn’t focus on it right now. He could be bitter and pissed for an eternity  _ after _ they saved the whole world. And they had to save it, because they weren’t going to leave, and Taako wasn’t going to lose his family right after he finally got them back. That shit wasn’t going to fly.

He listened as Lup detailed her plan to turn the plane of glass that had once been Phandalin into a portal, reopening the connections between the planes. He went along when the gift he got from a goddess gave him his food truck back. He let some kid from the plane of thought teach him how to make the most kickass destiny taco in existence.

And then he managed to change the circle of glass into sapphire in a breeze, and his boyfriend was there and  _ god. _ Taako thought he was feeling all sappy and emotional about him  _ before.  _ Remembering what it was like to actually fucking care about people took all of that up to a million. It was so much when he kissed him and told him about what he lost in Wonderland and just fucking  _ everything. _

It was good though, it real real good, and it was also terrifying, because Taako cared. He fucking cared about this world, about the people here, and if they didn’t do something, they were going to lose all of it. Being destroyed at this point would be preferable to running. He couldn’t think of what it would be like, having to move on when he finally let himself have things. Tearing all that away and forcing himself to start back at zero. 

There was a reason he didn’t let himself think of the worlds and people they passed through as anything more than talking dust. He didn't understand how Lup and Barry could do it, could keep caring so much about everything and not fall into despair.

At this moment, he hated relying on Lucretia for anything. After what she did and how much he fucking knew he couldn’t ever forgive. She stole Lup away, she made him forget his best friend and the only few people he let himself care about in 100 years. She took Angus away, left him without a real family and thinking they abandoned him. She  _ put him to sleep and locked him in a fucking room _ when he ended up seeing through her shit.

Still, as much as all that fucking infuriated him, left him so angry he could barely think, it wasn’t the most important thing here. The most important thing was that they needed a way to defeat the hunger. They couldn’t close themselves off, and they couldn’t run, so they needed a third option.

When they were all together again, trying to figure out what that third option was, he tried not to let it affect his thoughts that much. They needed to think this through after all. This was the only shot they had left.

The weird crystal showed them the kinds of things they could have if they managed to get through this. Taako saw him and Lup together, teaching Angus how to cook something while Barry watched from the other room. That was too fucking important to waste on a personal grudge.

Especially when there was a part of him that absolutely hated feeling with way about Lucretia. Some part of him that wished he could pretend none of it had ever happened and was looking for excuses to ignore it all and move on. It wasn’t a big enough part to change his mind any in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough to get through this. It was enough to let him work with her, just for now.

“We could close ourselves off, and we could run. There’s one other option though,” he said, turning to where Lucretia was still hiding behind her shield, channeling her spell. “Lucretia, your spell, could it keep the hunger bound? Could it… cut the hunger off?”

Entrapping the hunger in her shield seemed like the one fighting chance they had. He wasn’t going to give up here, not anymore, so he would work with her for this.

Everyone seemed to stop as soon as he said that, and then there was this huge sense of relief at the idea of actually having a plan. They actually had a plan that could work. They had the Starblaster, they could get on that plane. The spell was already being channeled, they could break the bonds that formed the hunger with it and starve it off for good. They could do it and this would be over and then they could fucking  _ live. _

“I’m so sorry. I was so myopic. I worked so hard on this plan, I gave up. I had blinders on, and I don’t expect you all to forgive me but some-” Lucretia started apologizing, and Magnus and Merle went over to go hug her. When they tried to get Taako to join them he stayed the fuck away. He was working with her, he wasn’t forgiving her and he wasn’t going to let her think she was even somewhat off the hook here.

Lup was always the more forgiving and understanding of the two of them, and he half expected her to go join them. So he was kind of surprised when she stayed by his side, staring at Lucretia with an expression Taako couldn’t read. It wasn’t because she was all lich either. Taako had learned both her and Barry’s tells when they were all spooky ghosts after a couple of cycles, that wasn’t an issue.

If he had to make a bet, he’d guess that Lup wasn’t even sure what she was feeling at that moment.

“Lucretia, dear,” Lup spoke up, just when Taako had figured she wasn’t going to say anything. “I forgive you, but when all of this is over we’re going to have to… we’re gonna have to talk about this,” she said. It was more than Taako was willing to give her, but that was what she expected of Lup.

“Of course, I- of course,” Lucretia said, both relief and acceptance in her voice.

Once that was over they started making plans. Who would go with Lucretia and Davenport to put up the barrier, who would stay, things like that. Taako didn’t- he didn’t want to leave Lup and Barry and Angus down here, but he didn’t want them to come up with him into the hunger either, fuck that.

“Am I- I’m not going to lose you again?” he asked Lup, because he couldn’t. Even if they won here, if he lost them again he just fucking couldn’t. He’d find a new fucking voidfish and give himself the Davenport treatment at that point.

“Never, never again bud,” she said, before giving him a hug and telling him not to die. He made some joke about her having already fucked that one up, but he could barely focus on what he was thinking everything was so much.

He saw Magnus giving Angus some shitty old knife, and he figured it was supposed to be some heartwarming thing. Magnus had helped them watch Angus a lot after Lup left after all, Taako knew he cared about the kid. Still, Taako quickly cracked a joke about him having the flaming raging poisoning sword of doom, and how the knife was chump change in comparison to it.

Angus still seemed pretty shaken by all of this, and well Taako couldn’t blame him. Even if it had only been the end of the world, that was still a lot for a kid. Taako hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him since they all got back together either. Since their whole story had been broadcast by the voidfish. He wasn’t sure how he felt about all that.

As much as he wanted to check in and make sure he was okay though, they didn’t have time. He’d just have to make sure to survive and come back after all this was over and ask then.

“Here pumpkin, can’t have you going down there without any defense, can we?” Taako said, digging through his bag until he found one of his shitty old wands. He’d like to give him something nicer, but after giving Cam one of his spares and then destroying the umbrastaff, he was running kind of low on arcane focuses.

“Thank you! Um, don’t you need something to cast with though?” Angus asked, and Taako held up the Krebstar for him to see.

“I’ve got that covered with this sickass glaive, so don’t even worry,” he said, spinning it around on a finger to show off. Instead of looking impressed though, Angus just frowned.

“Taako, that’s not a glaive,” he said, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that. This was probably a dumb conversation to be going away on, but Taako preferred that. It wasn’t- this wasn’t goodbye, so no need to be all serious and dramatic about it.

“Uh, yeah it is,” he said, but Angus was shaking his head.

“No, a glaive is a weapon where a blade is at the end of a long pole arm. In fact, a regular glaive would be a much better spellcasting focus, since those tend to be things like wands and staves. Honestly, this thing looks like it’ll cut your fingers off if you mess around with it too much,” he said. 

“God, I already had to hear this bullshit from your parents when I made the thing, not you too,” Taako said, trying to sound annoyed but not able to even come close. It got Angus to laugh a little, and at that point Taako could see tears in his eyes. He was scared, of course he was, that was why they were talking about useless bullshit. He could hear Davenport was telling them how they needed to go, and Lup was making plans to 4/20 blaze it with Magnus, so Taako pulled Angus into a hug.

“Fucking, be careful out there, okay? And just… sorry,” he muttered, terrified at the idea of leaving Angus like this. Of the very real possibility that even if they won this, he might not be able to come back. They didn’t know what was going to happen out there. Angus was holding onto him just as tightly, shaking and not seeming keen on letting go anytime soon.

“You too,” he said, before reluctantly pulling back some. The tears in his eyes somehow hadn’t spilled over yet. Taako was impressed. “And you don’t have to be sorry about anything, you didn’t know,” he added, and Taako wanted to argue with that. Even if he didn’t know he  _ should’ve. _ Fuck the voidfish, he should’ve been able to tell when his family was right in front of him.

“Still, you better live through this bubula, I’ve got a lot of shit to make up to you,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Will do,” he said, making it sound like a promise. Taako didn’t fucking  _ want _ to leave, but he didn’t have a choice. He’d be back soon enough, and then they could start fixing everything that had been left in ruins.

“Alright, go protect the world with your parents, I’ll be back in a bit,” Taako said, forcing himself to stand back up. He ruffled Angus’s hair some before shoving him off in the direction of Lup and Barry. Angus walked a few feet before stopping and turning back to him, seeming to think something over before speaking.

“See you soon uncle Taako!” he said, and god it was so fucking  _ cheesy _ Taako was gonna die. He managed to force himself to keep his composure though, nodding and giving him a slight wave before starting off to the Starblaster.

“See you soon Angus,” he said, and with that he headed onto the ship. He waited with Merle and Magnus on the deck of the ship he’d lived on for 100 years as Davenport started up and began heading them directly towards the hunger.

It was weird, Taako actually cared what happened here. He needed this to turn out well. He needed to get back to his family, and no matter fucking what, he was going to make sure that happened.

They were too important for him to lose now.

—

Angus watched as the Starblaster lifted off the moon base, before running to go join Ms. Lup and Mr. Barry in one of the transit canons. There was no reason why they couldn’t put a fourth person in there with the three of them, it was easier to get everyone down that way after all. Ms. Lup was a lich even, so she probably didn’t need to sit in a chair, so that was two more seats they could use. As he climbed in though it was just the three of them, and he guessed they wanted some time alone with him before everything went down.

He kind of wished they didn’t, because he didn’t know what he was supposed to say to them. He- it was easy with Taako. Taako had been there for the past year. He didn’t know these two, not really, and everything he’d seen during their century fighting the hunger, it was incredible.

When the story had been given to him, he’d been left speechless for longer than he’d like to admit. He was pretty sure he ended up worrying Davenport for a bit there, but it was so much. It was so much and these were his  _ parents. _ It was his  _ uncle  _ Taako and Magnus and Merle and the Director and Davenport. They’d saved so many worlds, had fought to save so many more.

They were the brightest and most skilled minds of their home plane. They had a century to keep honing their skills, both magical and scientific. They fought an embodiment of despair for 100 years and never let it turn them bitter and uncaring. They even went so far as to become liches without it compromising them.

They were so  _ incredible, _ and Angus couldn’t help but feel like he didn’t match up.

“Hey, you okay there kiddo?” Barry asked, and Angus quickly nodded. He didn’t want them thinking he was scared about this, they’d faced it over 100 times, he could do it  _ once. _

“I’m fine sir,” he insisted, trying to sound chipper and deflating instantly afterwards when he saw Mr. Barry flinch. “I- I’m sorry. It’s just that when I knew you as the Red Robe that was what I called you and it’s just- this is all just a little weird,” he tried, slumping further and further in his seat as he was sure he was making this worse.

“No, no that makes sense Angus, it’s fine,” Barry said. He didn’t sound upset, or well he did a little bit. Not the angry kind of upset though, just kind of sad. Angus wasn’t sure if that was better or worse, but he supposed it made sense. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to tell you sooner,” he added.

“It’s alright. You tried to, I remember that now,” he said, and Barry kinda chuckled some before nodding.

“Yeah, I probably told you a little bit too much during all that, so sorry again,” he said. Which yeah, thinking back on it now, he’d let so much slip that if it hadn’t been for the voidfish Angus would’ve been able to figure it all out immediately. Or well, not all of it, but a lot.

“So, you two nerds met each other before now?” Lup asked, and they both nodded.

“Yes, I kind of went looking in places I wasn’t supposed to and then I met the Red Robe. He didn’t seem as evil as everyone made him out to be so we ended up talking,” Angus explained. He could see Lup nod in her chair, a hand on the level to bring them to a stop once they got close to the ground. They only had a few more minutes before they got there.

Angus kind of wondered if having the slightly incorporeal person being the one to grab the lever was a bad idea, but it was already done. She seemed to be focused enough to have a handle on it though, and she was able to interact with some things. 

“That’s good, glad to know you all found each other,” she said, and it sounded genuine, but also forced. This whole thing felt awkward, but it was possible that was Angus pushing the way he was feeling on this whole situation. Maybe they were both fine with this, they were probably fine with this.

“What was it like being stuck in an umbrella?” he asked, only thinking afterwards that that might not be something she would want to talk about. Maybe he shouldn’t even be talking at all, but the silence was even worse somehow. Thankfully she laughed, and that wasn’t too surprising. She was the kind of person who seemed to brush off huge things like that like they were nothing. At least when they were about herself.

It was so weird, knowing so much about his parents now. He knew so much from the story that he couldn’t even begin to think of all of it at once, and it was so grand and epic that it was hard thinking he had any connection to it at all.

He was connected though, and he was pretty sure he was supposed to be their happy ending. That wasn’t how it worked out though, and so now he wasn’t sure  _ what _ he was to them.

“I mean, it sucked, but I’m sure there are worse things to get trapped in than a super rad umbrella,” Lup said, and Angus nodded. He supposed she had a point there.

“Could you tell what was going on around you from in there?” he asked, and he got the feeling she could. She’d tried to get messages out to him and Taako after all. Taako had talked about how the umbrastaff had always seemed to be weirdly protective of him, past what a normal arcane focus should be. And there was the whole ‘you threw my kid off a train’ comment from when she first got out.

“Yeah, somewhat,” she said, and they were starting to get real close to the ground now. They’d have to land soon and he was sure that there wouldn’t be much time to talk until after everything was over and done with. If things became over and done with.

He believed in them, he knew they could defeat the hunger, and they were going to make sure that there was a world still here when they got back. There was still a chance though, as much as Angus didn’t want to think about that, that they could fail. Or maybe just he would fail. He wasn’t- he wasn’t some grand hero in all of this like his parents were. He couldn’t even cast third level spells yet.

It was very possible that he could die here, and the thought was kind of terrifying. He’d always been so worried about other people dying. Always so scared that Taako and Merle and Magnus wouldn’t come back one day and he’d lose them. He’d seen what they were capable of now, he knew how  _ amazing _ they were.

They’d be fine, they were going to win. That’s what Johann had said in the song. Angus just wasn’t sure if he would be there when it was all done.

“Hey, you sure you’re okay Angus?” Barry asked, and he sounded worried. He really sounded like he cared about him and it was still something Angus wasn’t used to. It was still something that almost made guilt pool around in his stomach for not giving them whatever heartfelt reunion they probably wanted and hugging  _ Taako _ but not either of them.

“I’m fine,” he lied, and that just made him feel all the worse. “Do you think a lot of people will die here?” he asked, because that was as close as he could get to asking ‘do you think I will die here?’

“Probably,” Barry said, which didn’t do much to help his nerves. He was telling the truth though, and Angus couldn’t fault him for that. He appreciated the truth a lot more than someone trying to protect his feelings, especially after finding out how many lies he’d been told recently.

He didn’t want to blame the Director for that, she’d been trying to save everyone. Even still, it stung after how much of his trust he’d put into her.

“We’re gonna make sure to save as many as possible. We’re going to protect this world,” Lup said before pulling on the handle and beginning to slow their decent. Angus nodded, not sure what to say to that. Of course they were going to protect as many people as possible, they were  _ heroes.  _ That’s what they do.

“We won’t let anything happen to you Angus, I promise. Nothing- nothing’s going to ruin this this time,” Barry said. Lup nodded fiercely in agreement, and it was back to being almost too much for him to handle. Thankfully he didn’t have to think of an answer, their transit canon finally reaching the ground and slowly rolling to a stop. When they got out, Angus was almost shocked to see the huge crowd in front of the gates of Neverwinter. A part of him wasn’t though.

They’d all heard the story and listened to the song, everyone knew that the only chance they had was to stand and fight.

Angus followed his parents up to the front of the crowd, and there was some comfort in the fact that it wasn’t just the three of them now. There were a lot of people he knew here, as well as people he knew of. Not just the ones who’d come down with them from the bureau, but those were probably the ones that put him most at ease.

As much as he didn’t know what to think of the Director anymore, he appreciated the familiarity of it all in honesty. He didn’t want to be mad at her. She’d been trying to save them all. She made sure to put him into a nice home and he’d loved his grandpa, he hadn’t grown up unhappy.

She’d taken him into the bureau, although now he didn’t know if it was because of his skills, or because of who’s kid he was. He was still the world’s greatest detective, he’d still been on the bureau’s trail, even with the voidfish blocking him.

He guessed there was a chance she would’ve erased whatever he managed to find from him instead of taking him in if he’d been some random kid though. He didn’t want to think about that though. He wanted to believe he still would’ve had a home there, no matter who his parents were.

Angus was distracted by his thoughts when Lup started speaking. The entire crowd hushed as she walked across the front line, trailing a broomstick behind her as she made a deep line in the ground. Angus found himself almost mesmerized along with the rest of the crowd. This powerful, resplendent lich’s voice booming over the hundreds of people gathered to fight. When she said they could do this, Angus found himself believing her. Johann said they were going to win, and they couldn’t afford to fail.

He watched as she made her way back over to them once she finished her speech. He could hear the people in the crowd talking about her, and about Barry. Every so often, he would hear someone whispering about him, some of them seemed to realize it was  _ him, _ others unsure. It was weird to hear, he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

After a moment Lup was back, standing at the front of the line between him and Barry. He didn’t realize he’d been staring at her until she reached out and ruffled his hair as soon as she was close enough to. It felt odd, the same way it had when Barry had done it when he was in his lich form. Like it wasn’t all there, like it wasn’t really  _ real. _

Kind of like how everything else was feeling right now, if he was being honest with himself.

“You hear that babe?” she said, glancing over at Barry before taking a few steps forward. Her hands caught fire as she faced the enormous army lead by one of the judges, heading towards them.

“We’re  _ legends,” _ his mom said, and something about it took Angus’s breath away.

His parents were  _ legends. _

Gripping the wand Taako had given him tighter, the fear he’d been struggling with before seemed to vanish. He had no idea how things were going to work out after this, but there was no doubt in his mind right now that there would be an  _ after. _

Because right now, standing with his parents, he felt invincible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finds a way to put my annoyance that the krebstar is not a proper glaive into one of the climax chapters of my fic. 
> 
> Sorry for not updating yesterday like was planned, i had the chapter written out, but i couldn't edit it due to the fact that i came down with a super nasty stomach bug and was pretty much incapacitated for two days straight. i'm feeling like a person again though, so here it is. Also, as it's looking, there should only be two more chapters left here. We're nearly there. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	32. Home

Taako had not expected it to go that well. Not that any of that had been even remotely easy. Like, they nearly died, that was a thing that happened, but they didn’t. Taako had been half expecting a kind of ‘down with the ship’ situation. They would be able to save the world and the people they cared about, but they weren’t coming back.

That wasn’t it though. They actually managed to do it, using every trick they had in their books, plus calling people through the bond engine, they managed it. Taako blew that hunger motherfucker right off the ship, and he was staying right fucking there.

When the world stopped and a goddess offered them the time to make their choice, Taako’s first instinct was to go back. He needed to be with Lup and his family. He had to be sure Angus and Barry and his sister were still okay. He couldn’t risk losing them again, not when it was all so nearly over.

He fucking laughed when he saw how little he had to worry about that though. Of course they were kicking ass. It was kind of incredible to see them fighting together. He could remember now what fucking badasses Lup and Barry were. He saw Lup mowing down great swatches of hunger soldiers with bright explosions of flames. Saw Barry weaving necromantic magics to send even more crumbling into dust. Angus was doing a hell of a job keeping up with them, picking off any that managed to get through the waves of destructive magics with burning hands and magic missiles and scorching rays.

That didn’t even get into the whole of Neverwinter backing them up as well. They were fine, and in that brief moment where time came to a standstill Taako allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. They were okay and he was needed more with the others, so Taako went back. He didn’t let himself think about how Lucretia had torn them all apart to begin with, instead focusing on everything they needed to protect and save right now.

Riding into the waves of Hunger trying their hardest to destroy everything, they managed to fight them off enough for the spell to be cast.

And with that, it was all just.

Over.

They had a small moment where they talked to probably-god inside of a train, which was cool. Not-God explained that all the planes were going to be put back into place, and shit was gonna be… okay. It was weird to think of, but Taako figured Jeffandrews God probably knew what he was talking about.

And then in a blink of an eye, they were back in Faerun, and all signs of the hunger were gone. It was jarring as fuck, and it seemed like pretty much every single person who lived in the whole continent (it couldn't be more than the whole city, but it still seemed like a  _ lot) _ was staring at them. So they started joking about a cult for the god that had specifically not wanted a cult. It wasn’t like everyone hadn’t seen 100 years of them being dumbasses, trying to keep up appearances right now didn’t seem worth it.

They don’t spend long doing that though, and Taako only spared a glance over to where Lucretia and Davenport are standing with them, just long enough to see Lucretia nod. Then Barry and Lup were hugging, and the whole world started to celebrate.

Even though Taako had seen that he was fine, and he  _ knew _ Lup and Barry wouldn’t let anything happen to him, Taako couldn’t help but be filled with relief when he saw Angus pushing through the crowd towards them. He had a few scrapes and bruises and one of his glasses lenses were cracked, but he was okay.

“Is it over? Did we win?” he asked, and Taako couldn’t remember the last time he smiled so widely as he nodded.

“You know what little man? Believe it or not, we did,” he said, and there was something in him that couldn’t even believe it. He laughed at the surprised look on Angus’s face when Magnus grabbed him from behind and hefted him up on his shoulders, telling him to let them know.

“Hey everyone! Johann was right, we won!” he shouted, and somehow the celebration and the cheering got even louder. Angus was only up on Magnus’s shoulders for a few moments longer before he started scrambling off, not even bothering to be put fully on the ground before going for Taako. He almost wasn’t able to prepare himself for his nephew slamming into him with a hug. Taako couldn’t tell if he was the one shaking or if Angus was, but either way he could pin it on exhaustion. Also just, so fucking much relief, it was hard to quantify.

“Oof! Watch it there pumpkin, don't want to die after surviving all that,” he joked, although he didn’t actually mind in the slightest. In fact he wrapped his arms even tighter around his nephew so that he could pick him up some and spin him around, screw exhaustion. Angus was laughing, to the point of nearly crying. As soon as he put him back on the ground Taako winced, rubbing at his back.

“Ouch, okay, that’s enough of that. Oh boy you’re actually pretty heavy. For real though we did just all almost die, should probably take it easy,” he said, ruffling Angus’s hair.

“But you didn’t!” Angus said, sounding like he almost couldn’t believe that. Which was fair, it didn’t even seem real to him either when he thought about it too much. “You’re back! You’re here now and it’s- things are gonna be good now, right?” he asked, and Taako nodded.

“Uh yeah, I guess it is,” he said. He actually believed that too. There wasn’t a fucking thing in all of the planar systems he’d let take his family away now. Not again. Speaking of which…

“Shit, where are Lup and Barold? We need to- I don’t know, but we should go find them,” he said, grabbing Angus’s arm to go take him to his parents. A bit to his surprise Angus didn’t move, and when Taako turned back to look at him he looked nervous for some reason. “Ango?” he asked.

“Um, I just- I don’t know what to- uh,” he muttered. And right, Taako remembered how awkward he had seemed in front of them before, and it, well it made sense. He’d never met them before, and Taako had heard what he’d assumed about his parents before. Hell, Taako remembered what  _ he’d _ thought about them before, when his memory was wiped and all he had to go off of was Angus’s guesses. He’d have to apologize to them later for assuming they were a couple of complete assholes. Of course, it wasn’t his fault he’d thought that, and it wasn’t Angus’s either.

“Hey now pumpkin, there’s no reason to- you don’t gotta be nervous about them. They fucking love you,” Taako tried to assure him. Shit had gone wrong, shit had gone so fucking wrong and it was going to take a lot to make up for it, but Taako knew that they’d never stopped loving Angus. He couldn’t ever imagine that happening, and Angus needed to know that.

He couldn’t imagine what it was like, Barry being off on his own and knowing what was going on and not being able to find Angus. Or fucking Lup trapped and forced to watch them not realize basic shit. He didn’t  _ want _ to think about that.

“I know that,” Angus said, and it sounded like he believed it. “I know they care about me and loved me, and they’re so- so incredible! You’re all so amazing, everything you did to save the world, how much you’ve all gone though…” he said, trailing off some, sounding nervous to say whatever it was he was thinking.

“I mean, yeah, we’re pretty damn great. So what’s the problem?” Taako asked.

“It’s just weird. I haven’t even called them mom and dad yet. What if they’re… disappointed… with me?” he asked, ears twisted down and not looking Taako in the eyes. “I know they wouldn’t even say anything if they were but I just- I don’t know what to do.” 

Taako frowned at that, and it was the first thing to dampen the insane relief and happiness he was feeling. He didn’t let go of Angus’s arm, but he turned back fully towards him, crouching down some so that they were on the same level. Taako never realized how fucking tall Angus actually was for his age. It was kind of mind boggling, thinking of the last time he’d seen his nephew as barely a toddler before everything had been torn away from him and comparing that to now. 

He’d grown so fucking much, and it hurt, knowing none of them had been there to see that.

“Listen, I’m not- I’m really not the one who’s good at this kinda junk, even before everything you know, happened. But fucking, you don’t gotta rush this, alright? What happened, none of it was your fault. They’re not going to be disappointed, what did I tell you before? You’re like, the smartest kid basically ever, and you just helped save the world,” he said, and yeah, a part of him hurt hearing Angus thinking of them as strangers. But that was it, they  _ were _ strangers to him. He was a fucking  _ infant _ when shit went down. There was no way he would be able to remember.

“And even if you weren’t all of those things,” Taako continued, and it felt- it was kind of hard to form the words. He was never good at being supportive and open, and the last few years had dashed any skills for that he’d managed to build up over his life. “We could never be disappointed in you Angus, I promise,” he said. Angus smiled a bit at that, looking a little less uncertain.

“Thanks, um, uncle Taako? Is it- I know I said it before, but is that okay?” he asked, and Taako nodded, ruffling his hair some.

“Hell fucking yeah it is. Way better than ‘sir’ my dude,” he said, and like, it was still weird as fuck to think of himself in any kind of like, parental role. Even just parental adjacent, but he guessed he was already there. He’d been there for a pretty long time now, as much as he wouldn’t ever want to admit it. “So uh, you good? Like, it doesn’t have to be perfect right now, but you good?” he asked.

“I suppose so, but it’s just… I don’t  _ know.  _ I should be happy about this,” Angus said.

“Are you not?” Taako asked, and he couldn’t- he couldn’t blame Angus if he wasn’t. He’d seen their whole story along with everyone else, if he thought this was all a train wreck he wanted no part of, that was fair.

“No, I am. I think I am? I mean, I definitely am, it’s just a lot to get used to I guess? You’re all really, really amazing,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“But?” he asked, and Angus sighed.

“But I never expected to have parents I guess. I don’t know if I’m doing any of this right,” he said. Taako laughed, not at Angus but because fuck he knew that feeling.

“And I never expected us to actually defeat the hunger, I have no fucking clue what I’m supposed to do now either,” he said. Angus seemed to relax some at that. “We don’t gotta figure this all out right now, what do you want to do first and we’ll do that,” he added. Angus seemed to think it over a bit before speaking.

“I guess I want to get to know them. I mean, I know I heard your story but I figure there’s more to them than that,” he said, and Taako nodded. That was good enough for him. It was good enough for now.

“Well then, let’s go get to know them, how about it?” he said, and this time Angus nodded, letting a small smile spread across his face as he followed Taako through the crowd. It didn’t take long to find Lup and Barry, Taako kind of got the feeling that they were keeping close tabs.

“Hey y’all! Look what I managed to find,” Taako said as he went up to them, and they just had to keep it casual. Shit was gonna be- they’d fix this. They had time now, they could fix it.

“He ran up to you Taako, you didn’t find shit,” Lup said, and Taako shrugged. So yeah, they had been watching, that wasn’t a surprise in the slightest.

“Hey Angus, you uh- you feeling alright from the battle? I know there are a whole bunch of clerics running around now if you need anything,” Barry said.

“Oh, I’m fine! Nothing more than a few scrapes, it’s- the clerics have a lot more injured people to get to first. I’m alright,” Angus said, and Taako did a once over to make sure he was telling the truth. It really did seem like he’d come out of this mostly unscathed. That wasn’t too much of a surprise though, Taako figured Lup and Barry had been protecting him the whole time.

“Alright, just let us know if you need anything, okay?” Barry said. Angus nodded, and it was still- this was still awkward, but they could work with this. This could work.

Lup and Barry would always have been such great parents, and Angus was such a fucking good kid. They were going to make this work.

“Well, what the fuck are we doing now? Because like, trust me, I love a celebration. I am all for partying down but like, I did almost die. Many, many times in the past couple of days and I don’t know about y’all but I’m fucking beat. Cha’ boy could use a nap for like, the next week. Then partying can happen,” Taako said. Plus, as nice as it was being around all these people and seeing the world they saved celebrating, Taako just kinda wanted to be alone with his family right now.

“Yeah no I’m right there with you,” Barry said, and he  _ looked _ tired. He was also older than Taako was used to, a person got comfortable with someone’s appearance when it didn’t change in 100 years.

It was unsettling, but Taako didn’t say anything about it right then. Instead he made a mental note to maybe mention it to Kravitz later. They needed to talk about the whole lich thing anyway, but that was in the future.

“Right, let’s go hom-” Taako started, and then stopped himself. He’d been thinking of the moonbase as home all this time, but it wasn’t- it felt wrong now. It felt like two contradictory lives were trying to exist in his head at once, and the bureau made it all the worse. It was the pinnacle of it all, and he didn’t know if he could think of it as home anymore. No, he knew he couldn’t.

“We should go see what’s survived on the moonbase, right? And we’ll need to get our things for um, for whatever’s happening next I suppose,” Angus said, and Taako nodded. Yeah that made sense. It felt better to think of it like that.

“Yeah, we can crash in my old dorm, it’ll be a fucking slumber party. I’m sure Mags and Merle’ll show up at some point later tonight,” Taako said, and Lup nodded.

“Sounds great, let’s get to it,” she said. Taako glanced up to where the moon base was, a bit damaged now but still hanging up there. He kind of doubted that the canons would be running right now though, and he wasn’t- he couldn’t ask Lucretia for help right now. Or ever again, if he had his way about it.

He needed to talk to Lup and Barry about all that. Later, when they were all less tired and it was less raw. He was smart enough at least to know that trying to have a conversation about it now would be a bad idea. Maybe… maybe not when Angus was around either. He didn’t- he knew his nephew had looked up to her, a lot. He knew it was pretty hopeless trying to actually keep anything from him, but it might be better like that.

“Do one of you fools got a teleport left in you? I’m fucking beat,” he asked. Barry started to answer with an uncertain ‘maaaaybe’ but before he could try anything Lup stepped forward. With way more flourish than was even remotely necessary (god he’d fucking missed her so much. He couldn’t even remember her and he’d missed her) she teleported them all back up to the moon. Right into his apartment in fact, and Taako was confused about how she knew where it was before he remembered. She’d been in the umbrastaff the whole time, of course she knew where his apartment was.

“Alright, time for Casa de’ naps,” he said, grabbing onto the three of them as best as he could (it was difficult, having only two hands and Lup being mostly incorporeal, but he managed it) and dragged them back to his room.

As soon as bed was within reach he collapsed down onto it, bringing Barry and Angus down with him. Lup just floated above before settling as best as she could on the bed with them.

“Um, is this alright?” Angus asked as he shifted around some to get a bit more comfortable.

“Mhmm, now get some fucking sleep. Wizards need sleep,” he said, starting to mumble a bit at this point. He was fucking tired, they’d been through a hell of a lot, so who could blame him?

It didn’t take long at that before he passed out, and he wasn’t too aware at that point but Barry and Angus didn’t seem that far behind.

There was a lot they needed to do once they woke up. He had to clear the lich thing with Kravitz, and figure out where they were going to stay now, and figure out if- if Lup and Barry wanted to keep Lucretia in their lives, after all of this. They had to figure out how to start repairing things with Angus. That didn’t even get into everything that needed to be done to help the world recover as well.

They could think about that later though. They had the time to figure out all of that later.

For now, Taako was taking a nap with his family, and he was fucking happy.

—

Once the end of the world was over, there was a lot left to do. Angus knew there was a lot, and he should be getting up to go help where he could. He wanted to be useful and so he should try to wake up as soon as possible.

The only issue was that he was still very tired, and also Taako was sleeping on top of him.

Which wasn’t a huge problem for him. He actually didn’t mind it much at all, if mainly because it gave him a chance to rest for a little bit longer. Barry, his dad, was also asleep. He was going to try to work that into his thoughts regularly, even if it still strange to say out loud. It was just- he was going to take this slowly. Talking with Taako last night had helped, a lot. It was clear that he meant it when he said they wouldn’t ever be disappointed in him. As odd as the idea of having parents around still was to him, it wasn’t bad.

Like he told Taako, he wanted to get to know them. He wanted to figure this out.

“You awake down there bud?” Lup asked, and when Angus looked up the lich was floating up above him. She looked a little spooky, that was pretty much unavoidable with the whole lich thing, but she also looked like she was amused. Angus could guess why, Taako had ended up kind of half sprawled on top of him and with an arm looped around his shoulders at some point during the night.

“I think I’m stuck,” he said, speaking quietly as not to wake up Taako and Barry. Lup, his mom laughed slightly at that, and it seemed a bit more reserved than it had been in most of what he’d seen in the story. He guessed they were all still a bit nervous about this. Which was probably a good thing, it put them on an even playing field.

“Want some help getting unstuck?” she asked, and Angus thought for a moment before nodding as best as he could in his position.

“If it won’t wake Taako up that might be a good idea,” he said.

“He’s dead to the world right now. Both those dorks are, you don’t gotta worry about that,” she said. Then the half of Taako that was on top of him levitated a few inches up and Angus was able to squirm out and off of the bed before she gently set him back down. It didn’t look like he’d stirred in the slightest.

“Um, thanks,” he said, and it still kind of felt like there was some cognitive dissonance going on, having a Red Robe up in the base, helping him and completely trusting her. Of course, he knew the story now, so it was pretty easy to dismiss any misplaced worry that tried to creep into his mind.

“Not a problem. You should have breakfast, I know Taako had to get on you about eating a lot. You’re just like Barry that way,” she said, and Angus nodded.

“Yeah um, yesterday had been pretty busy. I don’t think I really got a chance to sit down and eat, with the whole end of the world and all,” he said, following Lup out into the main part of the dorm and into the kitchen.

“Right, can’t fault you for that one. Here, you have something simple to tide you over and I’ll start cooking up a big breakfast. It’s been forever since I’ve gotten into a kitchen and that should wake the boys up as well,” Lup said, and Angus nodded. He got himself a bowl of cereal and sat at the counter as he watched her start to levitate out ingredients and supplies and such. It wasn’t any super advanced magic, but it was all so  _ effortless _ that it still managed to betray just how powerful she was.

“So,” she said after a bit, and she sounded kind of nervous. “I guess we really dropped the ball on that one. That one was on me,” she said, cracking several eggs into a pan with mage hand.

“You were trying to save the world, it’s not- things don’t always go as planned. The whole world would've been destroyed if it wasn’t for all of you, so it worked out,” Angus said. It was true, they would have all been consumed by the hunger if they hadn’t been there to put an end to it. Lup just sort of shrugged though, not seeming to care too much about that.

“Yeah, we ruled at that, don’t get me wrong. We pretty much got saving the world on lock down at this point,” she said, mixing a couple of bowls simultaneously of what seemed to be muffin and pancake batters. “We still could’ve stood to be there for you, we didn’t do so hot in that regard,” she added.

“It was a lot though, none of you meant for any of that to happen,” he insisted. He didn’t want Lup and Barry, his parents, to blame themselves for this. He didn’t want Taako to either.

He- he didn’t want to blame the Director either, even though she had been the one to take him away. She’d been doing what she felt was necessary, and it very well might’ve been. There was no way to say for sure.

“I wasn’t- I wasn’t unhappy, you know? I um, it might’ve been a little lonely at times, but it wasn’t- I was fine,” he said, and part of him was still nervous to admit that. Worried they’d be upset that he’d never missed them, not really. But he didn’t want them thinking he was unhappy either, so telling the truth was the best option here.

“That’s good to know, I’m glad you were happy Angus,” she said, and it sounded like she meant it.

“When I first talked to Mr. Barry,” he mentally cursed, but she didn’t seem to react as strongly that time. Maybe she was getting used to him being… like this, “he asked if I was happy too. I didn’t get why at first but it makes a lot of sense now,” he finished.

“I’m gonna need you two to tell me the whole story there one of these days. You’re lucky the ‘evil red robe’ turned out to be an actual marshmallow,” she laughed, and Angus nodded.

“Right, that could’ve gone kind of bad if things were how everyone said they were,” he agreed. It was starting to smell really good in the kitchen now. He’d finished his cereal at this point and was sipping at the milk.

“Mhmm, just like jumping off the moon probably wasn’t your best idea either? Barry told me that was actually on purpose,” she said, but it was clear in her voice that she was much more amused than upset about this.

“Yeah, but he said I got that from you,” Angus said, and Lup shrugged, not looking the least bit like she was going to deny it.

“I mean, of course it’s from me. I’m the cool parent, that’s pretty obvious,” she said, levitating a tray of muffins into the oven to cook while she flipped over some sausages with another mage hand. “You gotta always have a catcher though. Someone to back you up in case the magic goes wrong, you don’t ever want to take those kinds of risks on your own,” she added, and Angus nodded.

“That’s how you and Taako always were, wasn’t it?” he asked. Thinking of the Taako that he’d seen in the story, it was so strange to compare him to the one Angus had first met on the Rockport Limited. Taking Lup away had taken a lot from him, and even though he seemed to get better the longer Angus had known him it was still kind of scary to think about. The rage Taako had shown after he remembered, well, Angus could understand where it was coming from. 

“Yeah, it was. Still is,” she said, and she was checking the food more than Taako usually did, but he guessed it had been a lot longer since she got to cook. After a moment she grabbed a fork, picked a bit of egg out of the pan and floated it over to him. “Here, I can’t really taste test like this, tell me what you think?” she asked. Angus took the fork, blowing on the food for a bit before trying it.

“Oh, this is really good ma’aaa-om? Mom?” he said, stumbling over his words at the end there. It definitely felt a little forced, but he shouldn’t be calling his parents  _ ma’am _ and  _ sir. _ Lup nodded though, putting the eggs onto the plate before starting some more.

“You know, you don’t gotta force yourself to call us anything right away, or like, ever if you’re not feeling it. Either way, we know this is real new to you so just like, take your time,” she said, and honestly hearing that was kind of a relief. Taako had said the same thing and he knew from everything he saw that they weren’t the type of people to get mad at him over something like that. It was still hard to keep his mind from worrying until his parents straight out said it.

“Thanks. I mean, I do want to, it feels like it’ll take a while to get used to though. But I- I want to, get used to it, that it,” he said, and Lup seemed to be smiling as much as a lich possibly could.

At that point, Angus heard the door to the bedroom open and Taako walked out, Barry stumbling sleepily behind him.

“Lup, you’ve been back one day and you’ve already stolen my kitchen and my boy,” he said, slinging an arm around Angus for emphasis.

“He was my boy first, and wake up earlier next time if you wanna use the kitchen,” she said, flipping a pancake as she spoke.

“You don’t even sleep when you’re like that, you’re cheating,” Taako complained, although Angus sincerely doubted he was actually upset about that.

“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Angus asked. His dad, Barry, still looked half asleep as he nodded. Angus got the distinct impression that he was only awake because Taako had dragged him out here.

“Sure did pumpkin,” Taako said, using the arm slung around him to give him a little half hug before moving around the counter to where Lup was cooking. It was odd having Taako be so openly affectionate, but Angus wasn’t complaining. “Move over, lemme see the damage you’ve done. Seriously, you can’t even taste like this,” he muttered, sounding nothing but fond and amused. It was all so casual too, probably a bit too casual.

He could understand Taako wanting to pretend like nothing had ever happened instead of processing it all. It definitely wasn’t the healthiest thing, but Angus figured right now, after everything they’d been through, they all deserved a break.

Barry only went over to that side of the kitchen for a moment, making himself some coffee before dodging out of the way of the two cooks. Walking back over, he pulled out one of the stools next to Angus to sit and wait while Taako and Lup finished up the last of the food. It really was a sight to see, those two working together. Angus could notice when compared to how they’d been during the century running little hiccups here and there. They weren’t totally in sync anymore, but it was close.

“Hey, are you old enough to drink coffee yet? You want some?” Barry asked him, starting to wake up more now.

“Absolutely,” Angus said, unfortunately it was mostly drowned out by Taako and Lup yelling ‘no’ simultaneously. 

“Sorry Ango, looks like you’re outvoted here,” he apologized, and Angus couldn’t be too torn up about that. He also wasn’t torn up when the next time Taako and Lup’s backs were turned Barry snuck him his mug to let him have a sip.

It didn’t take long for Taako and Lup to finish cooking all the food once they were working together. As they ate Lup kept asking for the play by play taste wise, and for every flawless thing Angus and Barry would say Taako would find a flaw, half of which Angus was sure were made up.

For the morning after the end of the world, it felt so casual.

And normal.

And  _ safe. _

Angus knew there was so much left they needed to do, so much that was uncertain and so much that would take years to get used to.

That would all come later. There would be plenty of time to pick up the broken pieces of the world and their lives later.

Right now, Angus let himself enjoy this small moment of peace. It would still take him a long time to really adjust to all this, but in that moment, it felt  __ right.  
  
It felt like  __ home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we are folks! At the penultimate chapter! This is almost pretty much the last chapter, and the next is just a very long epilogue. I can't believe how far it's come, but i sincerely want to thank everyone who's stuck around all this time. It means a lot to me and I hope this chapter as well as the final conclusion lives up to everything y'all hoped. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed


	33. Perfect

It was weird, reaching a happy ending that somewhere along the line, Taako had stopped believing would happen. He wasn’t sure if it had been the moment their homeworld had been destroyed, or during the years running, or after they’d created the relics. He'd never admitted it, to himself or anyone else, but it was there. At some point, in the back of his head he had decided that there was no way things would work out perfectly in the end.

And they hadn’t worked out perfectly, he definitely wouldn’t say that. For one thing it was hard, having two contradictory lives stuck in your head. He remembered the truth now, he knew what his past had been and how things had truly gone, but that didn’t make the ten years he went believing a lie go away instantly.

Remembering hadn’t made him forgive Lucretia, and the fact that they’d won and were safe now hadn’t either. It was still- maybe someday he would, but it was still way too fucking raw. It had only been a couple of months now, they were still recovering from the mountain of damage she’d left at their feet from her decisions. Maybe someday years from now he’d be able to, well not forgive her, he wasn’t going to do that. But he’d be able to be around her again without being reminded of all she’d taken from them.

A part of him hoped so, at least. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he missed her.

She knew what she was doing when she made her choices though, so they could both live with the consequences of that.

So yeah, it hadn’t been perfect. The world was still scarred on top of all of that, as much as it was slowly recovering. The Bureau was reforming into an organization to help with that process, although Taako was staying out of it as much as he could. Merle was getting in on rebuilding Bottlenose Cove, shit was healing.

Taako had been prepared to have a very long talk with his boyfriend once the dust had settled. He knew Lup and Barry were liches and sins against the natural order of life and death and complete blasphemy to everything Kravitz stood to uphold. To his surprise though it hadn’t been necessary. Kravitz was already talking to the Raven Queen, and in the end had managed to strike a deal to take the two on as reapers.

It was a relief, and Taako hadn’t even realized how terrified he’d been of what was going to happen with that until he’d dispelled the fear.

If things had gone badly with that Taako would’ve lost both Lup and Barry, as well as his boyfriend. It was good to know that wasn’t the case here.

So, things might not have ended up perfect, but he hadn’t expected them to. Those imperfections didn’t much matter to him though, because they were still miles and miles past what he thought they’d ever get. It was kind of hard to comprehend whenever he stopped and really thought about it, so naturally he didn’t let himself do that much. It wasn’t that hard to avoid either, since there had been a shit ton of stuff to get done, even after the world had been saved.

There was still a lot he’d needed to make up for.

They rested the day after they saved the world. It wasn’t a surprise and no one could fucking blame them for that. After everything that happened they were fucking tired, and they needed a day. Taako needed it, to mentally confirm that it was actually over, and that his family was really there. It was around afternoon when the rest of the IPRE had stumbled into their dorm (sans Lucretia. Taako had heard later that Barry and Lup went to talk to her the next day, but he hadn’t pressed how the conversation had gone).

Having everyone together felt right, felt good in a way Taako wasn’t sure he’d ever really had before.

That night though Taako was already starting to get antsy. Not because he was done with resting. It sure as fuck wasn’t that, but because he couldn’t stand to be there much longer. At the bureau.

That night he’d taken off his bracer, Angus’s too. He didn’t make a big show of it, just grumbled about him being a growing boy and you don’t put permanent metal bands on people who were still  _ growing. _ The whole immovable thing hadn’t stood up to testing either. All it took was casting enlarge on the thing and they could easily slip it off. No arm chopping off required, Magnus could put down railsplitter thank you very much.

It seemed like Lucretia had a tendency to overlook small exploitable details in her plans. He didn’t let himself dwell on that too much though. It wasn’t- it wouldn’t do him much good to focus on that, now that everything was over.

He couldn’t bring himself to stay at the moonbase much longer though. There were too many constant reminders. Plus, his room was too small for him, Lup, Barry  _ and _ Angus to all chill out in for any real amount of time. Sure, Angus still had his own room up here, but Taako wasn’t feeling up to letting the kid out of his sight much anymore. At least not right now.

He knew for a fact that Angus could take care of himself, it wasn’t that. They’d just lost so much fucking  _ time, _ and he didn’t want to waste any more like that.

In the end Taako hadn’t even needed to tell anyone. That night Lup had made a casual comment about needing to find a place planetside to stay soon. He’d forgotten what it was like to have someone so clearly understanding him. Well, he’d literally forgotten, but still.

Finding a place, even temporary was kind of hard to do when the world had just been ravaged like it had. But, there did seem to be some benefit to being world saving heroes that everyone in existence knew about. They had a couple of options after a few days, Lup, Barry and Angus could even get their own house and Taako could get another close by if they wanted.

Taako had been helping Angus pack up his room on the base when he had spoken up. It was one of the few times Lup and Barry hadn’t been there in the few days post apocalypse. It was pretty clear that the two of them and Angus were still getting used to each other, but there seemed to be progress. It was slowly getting a little less awkward with each passing day.

“Um, uncle Taako?” Angus asked, and gods, he still wasn’t used to that. It did dumb things to his heart every time Angus said it.

“Sup pumpkin?” he asked, scrawling ‘nerd books’ on the box of novels and notebooks Angus had handed him. After thinking a moment and figuring they’d have another similar box when they cleaned out Barry’s secret cave lair, he added a ‘jr.’ to the front.

“It’s not that I’m not grateful that Lup and Barry want me to stay with them, because I am!” Angus started. He’d called them mom and dad a few times, but it still didn’t seem to be something he was too comfortable with yet, which was fine. They were letting him do this at his own pace. He did seem to at least be trying to kick the whole ‘Mr’ and ‘Miss’ thing, which was nice.

“Course they want you around, that ain’t even a question,” he said. Angus nodded quickly, and at least that wasn’t what he seemed to be questioning right now.

“Yes, it’s just… you’re going to be there too, right?” he asked, sounding nervous to even ask the question. To be fair, he’d been nervous about a lot of things concerning this strange new family set up they were trying to figure out. None of them knew what they were doing anymore, they were just trying not to screw up too spectacularly.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be around my parents!” Angus continued when Taako didn’t say anything for a moment. “They’re really nice and they care about me a lot, and I like them too! And I can understand if you’d rather have your own place, but it would just- I’d really like it if you were around too,” he finished.

“Course I’ll be there Ango, you couldn’t get rid of me if you fucking tried,” Taako said, not even having to think twice about it. It wasn’t like his codependent ass wasn’t desperately trying to cling to his family as much as elvenly possible. The only reason they weren’t there right at that moment was because Taako was pretty sure they were taking the moment to fill in Lucretia on what they were doing. They still wanted to keep her in the loop, even if they couldn’t excuse everything she’d done.

After that Angus had been much more into the whole packing thing. They were going through the process very fast, and the next fucking day they were able to move down planet side. The house wasn’t meant to be permanent, just a place to stay while they figured out what they were fucking doing and rebuilt.

Still, it was pretty nice, four bedrooms (Lup and Barry’s, Angus’s, his and then an extra for guests. When they got a permanent place they’d have to at least get a five bedroom, since their guests tended to come in packs) and a decent kitchen. It was on the outskirts of Neverwinter, in an area that hadn’t gotten too much damage from the hunger attack.

It had meant to be temporary, but as they spent a month there, then two, then three, it had started to get the feel of an actual home. Taako and Lup had started getting their rhythm working in the kitchen together back. Barry had taken up he basement for a lab with decidedly less necromantic experiments than before, now that he was working for the Raven Queen and all. They weren’t entirely cut out, and Barry had gone on about how not all necromancy is against the rules, just sentient undead, bla bla bla. Taako just goofed on him about being careful not to lose his job over all his heinous death crimes.

Angus had really settled into his room, setting up some nerd book posters and completely filling up his bookshelf and putting the desk they’d gotten him to use pretty much daily. Taako could swear that he actually seemed happy here. That was probably the biggest driving factor in thinking maybe they should stay instead of going through the effort of packing up and moving all over again.

They could always add on another room for extra guests after all. He was sure Magnus would appreciate the work and excuse to stay over for a while.

Plus, Angus had been talking about wanting to go to school. Not grade school like some chump, he was already way fucking past that, since it wasn’t like magic lessons had stopped. If anything they became even more frequent, considering that it was an easy way for Lup and Barry to connect with him. But Lucas was starting up some magic university close by, and he was kind of interested in that.

Taako made a mental note to get his school up and running soon. He’d talked about the idea to Ren a couple times. If Angus was going to go to a magic school it was important to give him the best options available after all.

He was in his room, trying to do some work on that (god, why did there have to be so many rules when it came to making a school? He was going to have to double check with Ren to see if all of this was  _ really _ necessary) when Lup floated in. She was still in her lich form. Barry was working on making a new body for her but it still had a few more moths before it was done. Taako guessed one could say he was getting a little impatient for that. Sue him, he preferred his sister as not some weird ghostly apparition.

“Hey, what are you up to?” Lup asked, hovering over his shoulder and taking a look at all the forms laid out in front of him.

“Why the fuck did I think a school would be a good idea again?” he asked back, and he wasn’t at the point of wanting to call it quits yet, but damn it was tempting.

“Because you like kids and teaching,” she said like it was obvious.

“Ugh, gross,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes but not especially denying it. Some kids were okay he guessed. Teaching was alright too, mainly because he had so fucking much information he needed to share with the world. It would be a sin not to distribute it in some way. A school seemed like the best option for that.

“Angus called me mom again today. Don’t even think he realized he’d said it,” Lup said suddenly. Which yeah Taako had kind of got a feeling that there was a reason why she wanted to talk to him that wasn’t just checking up on what he was doing.

“Hell yeah, told ya he’s warming up to it,” Taako said. It’d been a while, but he knew Angus was still getting used to the whole parents thing. Taako could see that things were getting easier though, that he was easing into the whole idea and not forcing himself to jump into anything before he was ready or whatever.

“Yeah, he really is,” Lup said, and it was obvious there was sill something bothering her. It barely even seemed like she was trying to hide it, but it was kinda pointless to hide things between the two of them most of the time. Sometimes Taako had some trouble remembering that, but Lup could always figure out when something wasn’t right with him, and he could do the same with her.

“So, what’s the issue?” he asked, turning away from the paperwork to put his attention on Lup. She drifted back over to the bed and sat down as much as she could as a lich. He knew she didn’t really need to, but it felt better to pretend that it made a difference. Lup and Barry had both described it as little things to remind them they were still people.

“Do you think we’re doing okay with him? I mean, I didn’t have much of an idea about how to actually  _ be a parent _ when he was born yeah. But growing up is supposed to be a part of the learning thing and we didn’t have that,” she said. It wasn’t the first time she’d come to him about this kind of stuff, so he wasn't too surprised by it. Sure, it wasn’t like  _ he _ had any idea about how to be a parent, but he was close to Angus. He couldn’t deny that.

“You guys are doing fine. Sure none of us know what we’re doing but we’re making it work,” he said, and Lup nodded. Her mind definitely seemed to be off somewhere else though.

“Did something happen?” Taako asked, because it just seemed like this was bothering her more than usual.

“Barry started teaching him piano,” Lup said. Taako blinked, not expecting that to be something she brought up right now.

“Yeah? I’m pretty sure Ango mentioned something about that last week? He seemed kinda excited about it,” Taako said, no idea where this was going. “That’s like, a good thing right? Nice to see the nerds bonding over something.”

“Yes, of course it’s good. It’s great. They’re great and I love them and if I hadn’t  _ left _ in the  _ first place _ they never would’ve been separated,” she snapped, tiny crackles of arcane energy coming off of her and oh. Yeah okay, that’s what this was about.

The only thing that surprised Taako was that it had taken her this long to come to him about it. With a sigh he got up and moved to sit down on the bed next to her.

“Lup,  _ you _ weren’t the one who did the separating, you can’t exactly blame yourself for that,” he said. They hadn’t talked much about Lucretia, Lup knew he needed time. He was pretty sure on some level she still needed some too, maybe even more so as she dealt with the repercussions of it all.

“Okay, but Luce was going to go ahead with her plan whether I was there or not. If I’d  _ been there _ she would’ve kept us as a family, Barry wouldn’t have died to remember me. You wouldn’t have… you know,” she said, waving a skeletal hand in his general direction. Which yeah, that pretty much summed up all the bullshit with his whole deal.

“Yeah, and the world probably would’ve ended because Lich Barold wouldn’t of been around to kick us all into gear and get us inoculated,” he countered. Lup grumbled at that, but she didn’t argue. 

“Look, shit sucked, yeah I’m not gonna deny that,” he sighed. Yeah, a whole fucking lot of him wished Lup had never disappeared and everything after that hadn’t happened, but it did. “The only options we got now though are trying to make another temporal chalice, or just fucking, move on,” he said.

“You’re right. I know you’re right, it’s just hard sometimes,” Lup said, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah, but you’re doing fucking great,” Taako said, and he meant it too. It was slow going yeah, but that’s because that was what Angus wanted, and none of them were going to force him into shit. He could see a small grin spread across her face.

“Well then, I’m fucking tired of this school bullshit,” Taako said, standing up with a bit of a flourish. “How about you go grab your kid and see if he wants to get off his lazy ass and help with dinner?” he asked, and Lup nodded.

“Sure, just because you’re too lazy to do it yourself,” she teased, already heading towards Angus’s room.

“You’re right I won’t even argue,” he called back before heading to the kitchen and starting to get what they needed out for the meal. After a minute Lup came out with Angus in tow. He was wearing the wizard hat he’d gotten him a while ago, which probably meant that he’d had some magic lessons with either Lup or Barry today.

“Hey uncle Taako! Mom said you needed help with dinner?” Angus asked, and it did seem like he was feeling the whole mom and dad thing today. It wasn’t everyday, but it did seem to be happening a little more often, and Taako could never quite fight back a smile whenever it did.

It pulled at his heartstrings in the best way, seeing them slowly become a family again.

“Hell yeah I do, get out the milk and butter for cha’ boy while I set this up, okay?” he said, Angus nodding and heading over to the fridge. Lup did a quick glance over everything he had out and started helping him prep without having to ask. Once the smell of food started filling up the house Barry emerged from his basement office lair and sat down at the counter, watching them cook.

Taako started thinking, when they moved into this house it had been so soon after the hunger attack that everyone had been too busy and recovering. Plus, they hadn’t planned to stay here very long anyway. He’d have to talk to Lup and Barry about it, but if they decided on staying here they could do a belated housewarming thing.

Sure, it wasn’t like people weren’t constantly coming in and out of their house anyway. They pretty much had someone in the guest room every other week, which is why they needed a second in the first place. Even when that wasn’t being used, Kravitz stayed over pretty much any time he wasn’t needed in the Astral plane. The fact that it was just the four of them right now was a rarity more than anything.

Still, it would be nice to have the excuse to cook a big meal at least.

Taako wouldn’t miss a chance to show off his family, now that he finally had them back.

It was nice, having them and a home.

It was pretty cheesy, but it was kind of nice being a part of the happily ever after.

——

Angus was trying not to be nervous. Today was an exciting day and he had nothing to worry about. If anything, he should be happy. He  _ was _ happy, it was just dumb second guesses and doubts getting to him when he should’ve been over all that by now.

Things had been nice, they’d been  _ really nice _ and it was almost every night that he found himself lying in bed thinking about it all. Thinking about how it had ended up like this and how it wasn’t what he ever expected from his life but how he couldn’t complain either.

It wasn’t like it was a normal family, with the stereotypical mom and dad and kid and a dog. He was pretty glad it wasn’t, because while he didn’t think he’d be unhappy with that it sounded kind of boring. After everything he’d been through and how much he still found himself wanting to do the idea of being thrown into something so  _ normal _ was a little unnerving.

That wasn’t it though, and Angus was pretty sure it was all the strange little things that helped to ease his nerves over the months.

For one thing, whenever he had to think of how his parents weren’t normal, he could think about the story of their 100 year journey. It was still a permanent fixture in his mind and he was glad it would stay that way. Whenever he felt like he must have gone over every little detail of their journey something new stuck out at him as he went over it in his head once again. Sure, it wasn’t just his parents in that, but that was another thing that helped, it wasn’t ever just them.

He’d been extremely nervous at the idea of moving in with them after the hunger was defeated. He knew for a fact that they were kind, loving and fun people who cared about him more than anything, but that was just it. It was overwhelming to think about when it was people he’d known for less than a week at that point.

Which was why he’d been so relieved when Taako had assured him that he would be staying with them as well. Or, it was one of the reasons. The other was because he cared about Taako, more than he’d ever really imagined him doing.

It was kind of funny. When he’d first met Taako, he’d been strange and a little unnerving to Angus. He felt like he could trust him but he couldn’t place exactly why, and he was a bit cruel and uncaring.

Then he’d saved everyone on the train, and Angus could admit that he’d fallen into a little bit of hero worship over that for a bit.

His parents, from not knowing anything about them and assuming the worse without any real evidence, to meeting them and not knowing it to finding out about them and then watching them save this and countless worlds?

That was like when he’d met Taako, but on a scale so much higher Angus had been completely overwhelmed by it for a while. He was still a little bit overwhelmed by it, if he was going honest with himself.

And he’d grown to love Taako over time, absolutely. Even before he’d found out he was his uncle, he’d done a lot for him. He’d been the only person he felt like he could trust for a while there, when everything was so uncertain. And so Angus knew that the same thing would happen with his parents, he just needed a bit more time. He needed to take it slowly, because otherwise he got overwhelmed and scared by how  _ much _ it all was.

Slowly but surely though, he could feel himself start to come around to it all. It wasn’t something he was actively pushing himself towards, because it felt disingenuous when he did that. He just hung out with them, and he hung out with Taako, until he couldn’t help but notice how much he enjoyed being around them and how much he found himself wanting this.

It was a bunch of small things that showed him how much he wanted to be a part of this family.

He’d gotten along with Barry when he first met him as the Red Robe, much to his surprise. After seeing everything he’d done during the century they spent running it was much less of one, and it felt a little easier approaching him at first. Asking him to explain some of the theories behind his magic and the way he used necromancy.

He wasn’t sure how much he was supposed to still be using necromancy now that he served the Raven Queen. Taako was always joking about him breaking the rules and such. Whether he was supposed to or not though he always seemed excited to explain magic and such to him, even if a lot of it was well beyond a level Angus could cast yet. He seemed to have no doubt that Angus would get there in time though. 

After a while Lup had started joining in any time Barry taught him anything. Angus still considered Taako his primary magic teacher but it was clear that they both had so much knowledge to give to him as well. Plus it was something easy to bond over at first. Something they all had a clear love and talent for and wouldn’t leave many awkward moments with nothing to do.

Magic spread to other things. Taako still hesitated to use any in his cooking, but Lup didn’t have that sort of problem. She couldn’t eat as a lich, but she used that as an excuse to have Angus around while she cooked, so she could have someone to taste for her. Angus wasn’t sure if he had inherited any natural talent for cooking. He followed instructions though, and he certainly enjoyed the food, so he couldn’t complain.

Both his parents had become interested in his skill for detective work almost immediately. It was almost a little embarrassing, but they didn’t seem to be condescending about it. So he told them about it, what inspired it. He explained the Caleb Cleveland novels, and after a little bit of testing it was clear that Taako had forgotten them for good. Which hurt more than Angus wanted to admit.

He wasn’t sure if it was because they noticed how disappointed he’d been when he realized Taako couldn’t remember or if they were interested in his books, or both. Whichever it was he was still a bit surprised when both Lup and Barry had taken it upon themselves to read the books.

At first he thought it was only Barry, but that was because he was the only one he saw actually reading them. One day when he was cooking with Lup though she started asking him about a slight plot hole in Caleb Cleveland and the Case of the Malevolent Maze. It turned out she’d been reading them when everyone else was asleep, and that made sense. Taako did seem to sleep a little less than he did before, getting by on meditation so that Lup wasn’t alone as much. It wasn’t a constant though, so she did end up on her own at night a lot. Angus figured that must be pretty boring, and books certainly helped him when it came to things like that.

It was all just a lot of little things, probably more things than he could think of off the top of his head. Barry had started teaching him how to play the piano, and Lup had watched a bit at first but then joined in with her violin.

The hunger had ravaged the world so thoroughly, and there was a lot of work that needed to be done to fix it. Angus helped where he could, tracking down missing people who’d been lost in the battle. Barry had a lot of experience with that sort of thing, and went out with him to help as well.

He had nightmares sometimes. It was a perfectly normal thing, considering what he’d been through. He knew Taako had them too, it wasn’t a big deal and was something he would’ve been alright dealing with by himself.

He didn’t though, and Lup joked about it being an upside to not being able to sleep in this form. Whenever any of the three of them weren’t able to sleep she was up and around. A lot of the time it was just an offered distraction, but sometimes as he got more used to her Angus let himself open up some. He explained the sort of things he’d see in his dreams. The hunger destroying the world, him dying in that final fight, those sorts of things.

Lup listened and it was obvious that she was a bit awkward about the whole emotions thing as well, like Taako. Not quite as bad as him though, especially in the fact that she didn’t try to hide that she cared or anything like that. Taako had gotten better at that over the past few months, but it was clear that it was still a new thing for him.

So even though it was awkward sometimes, Angus always found himself relieved and relaxed after talking to Lup when he had a nightmare.

Everything that had happened since the day of story and song had been good. And right now he was waiting for something that should be nothing but a good thing. Despite that however, he found himself way more nervous than he should be. Sure, it was logical to be a bit apprehensive about any sort of change, but it wasn’t like this one was out of the blue or anything. They’d been waiting for months and he should be prepared by now.

“You’re gonna bite your lip off if you keep that up, have some fucking gum bubula,” Taako said, knocking him out of his thoughts. Angus quickly stopped chewing on his lip and took the stick of gum Taako handed him, a little embarrassed.

“Um, thanks uncle Taako,” he said, trying to hide his nerves even though he knew it was a lost cause at this point. Taako slumped dramatically on the couch next to him, heaving a loud sigh before glancing over at him.

“Gods, I hate this waiting shit. I'd go check on them but I don't want my experience with this being walking in on those two making out again," Taako said. Angus nodded, and he figured he should say something but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"What’s eating you?” Taako asked after the little bit of silence. Angus shrugged, because this was silly, he should be excited. He  _ was _ excited, he was just also nervous.

“Do you think I look okay? I mean I know it’s not like a first impression or anything. Well I guess it kinda is but it’s  _ not _ so I’m not overdressed am I?” he asked, rambling a bit. He was wearing some of his nicer clothes yes, because this was a special occasion, but it wasn’t his nicest. It seemed like a good balance when he was putting them on but now he was second guessing himself.

Taako gave him a lazy once over before conjuring a mage hand and sending it flying out of the room. After a moment it came back with Angus’s wizard hat in tow, dropping it on his head.

“There, now your look is complete,” Taako said, sounding very satisfied with himself. It definitely didn’t match his outfit, but Angus found himself laughing and nodding anyway. Somehow the hat was a bit of a comfort with all this.

“Yeah, I guess this is what I was missing,” he agreed.

“You know, there’s no reason to be nervous. It’s still the same old Lup. Hell, this is base Lup, you’ve just never dealt with anything besides the deluxe lich edition before,” Taako said suddenly, and Angus sighed and nodded. He knew that was the case, so he didn’t get why he was so nervous about this.

“I guess I’m just a little worried about change when I was finally starting to get used to this,” he admitted.

“So would this be a bad time to mention that Lup and Barold were thinking of doing the whole adoption thing since  _ legally _ you’re still a Mcdonald and all?” Taako said, and Angus sat straight up at that.

“Wait what- they are?” he asked, and it wasn’t like- he wasn’t immediately against the idea. It was just a very big thing (it wasn’t. They were already his parents and guardians anyway, this wouldn’t change anything in the grand scheme except for his name?) dropped on him when he was already nervous about another very big thing.

“Yeah, and I’ll uh, take that as a yeah, probably a pretty bad time to let out that one. Might be the slightest bit nervous here too,” Taako said, and Angus shook his head.

“No, no it’s fine. I don’t think that would be a bad idea,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“Right, and even if you want to keep the whole Mcdangle handle it’s cool. I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to switch back to ‘Bluejeans’ either,” Taako said, and Angus laughed a little at that.

“I hadn’t thought about that. It um, I’m gonna have to think that one over,” he said, and Taako didn’t seem upset with that any.

“Yeah, and whatever you choose, we’re still a family here,” Taako said, and it was so rare to have that level of sincerity in his voice. It left Angus speechless for a moment, just nodding before going in and giving Taako a hug. His uncle instantly hugged him back, and it felt right.

It was only a few moments after he pulled away did the door to the living room open and Angus found himself jumping up off the couch as quick as he could. His parents were there, and Angus had expected Lup to be a little shaky in her new body, but she seemed to be holding herself well.

The nerves he’d been feeling before seemed to evaporate, and this was a change but it was a  _ good change. _

“Mom!” he shouted, not thinking twice about it as he ran to the both of them, getting caught up in a hug as soon as he was within reach. She was laughing and it sounded different from when she had been in her lich form, a bit more solid and real. Angus didn’t have to look up to tell from his shaking that his dad was crying, and if he had to bet he’d say this hadn’t been the first time since she’d gotten her body back that he’d done that.

After a moment Taako joined them, and it felt complete.

Angus hadn’t been able to give them the heartfelt reunion they might’ve wanted when they’d first gotten back, but he guessed this was good enough.

It was a little delayed, but it was close enough.

It was close enough, and for Angus it was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who's read this fic and commented and kudo's and faved, all of that means the world to me. If it wasn't for all the support I got I'm not sure if I would've been able to finish it, let alone as fast as I did. I don't finish things often, and so this is a big deal for me and I just want to thank everyone who's been reading along the way and who'll read this afterwards. If you liked this, I do got quite a few other taz fics still ongoing right now, as well as another about taako and angus. 
> 
> Also, my tumblr is [here](http://kravkalackin.tumblr.com/) if anyone is interested in following me there. It is 99% taz because that's just my life now. I will also say, there is a slight chance I might write some post-heartstrings oneshots detailing for the the domestic fluff, so keep a look out for that. 
> 
> As always and from the bottom of my heart, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed~


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